


Episode 2-05 - "What is Past..."

by stgjr



Series: Undiscovered Frontier Season 2 - "Whispers of Destiny" [5]
Category: Multi-Fandom, Original Work, Star Trek
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, Multiverse, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 08:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11054823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: Locarno is forced to consider his past mistakes after being shot down on a Nazi-controlled planet.





	1. Chapter 1

**Teaser**  
  
 _Ship's Log: 20 April 2642; ASV Aurora. Captain Robert Dale recording. We have completed a short overhaul of the_ Aurora _at the Gersal Ring Yards and are preparing to depart for Universe S4W8 for training purposes..  
  
On another note, Commander Meridina is leaving the ship for personal time. Her request for an extended leave has been granted due to the ordeal that the Goa'uld Amaunet put her through. I hope that time back home will help her recover mentally from the experience of being made into Amaunet's host._  
  
  
Robert met Lucy at the airlock on the Ring Yards station. The Ring Yards were just one portion of the massive orbital ring built around Gersal's moon, with which the Gersallians refined the mineral wealth of their moon, built and maintained their starships, and supported the workers who made this possible. By mass it was one of the largest structures in the entire Alliance and the product of over twenty centuries of continuous construction and amalgamation of older Gersallian lunar stations.  
  
Gersallians and Humans looked virtually alike, so it was hard to tell which of those walking around them were of either species, at least from seeing their faces. Clothing style proved the most effective way of telling the differences - Gersallians tended to prefer an overcoat or even a robe, some wearing long flowing dresses over trousers. It was a style that was employed regardless of gender, with yellows, oranges, and light reds favored, and specific design patterns or forms of overcoat and robe referenced regional differences back on their homeworld. Humans were more varied in their choice of clothing, going from jacket or shirt with trousers to jumpsuits.  
  
Aside from Humans and Gersallians, Dorei were somewhat common. Alakin appeared here and there as well, and Robert noticed the pointed ears of two Vulcans - acolytes by their robes - who were boarding the next airlock over. A Minbari in worker caste garb followed them, chatting amiably with a Bajoran cleric.  
  
A voice spoke over the loudspeaker. Initially it was in Common Gersallian Dialect, which Robert recognized a few words from. The voice repeated itself in English. " _Orbital transport_ Luteran _is departing in ten minutes from Airlock 42. All passengers please report to Airlock 42 immediately._ "  
  
As the voice repeated a third time, this time in Lushan Dorei, Robert felt Meridina approach. Even in this teeming flow of life - a literal one too, as Meridina had shown him - he could feel her presence standing out amongst the others.  
  
He could also feel how different it was now. He could sense the anguish inside of her, the pain of what she had been forced to do.  
  
Meridina had been taken as a host by the Goa'uld Amaunet. Amaunet had used her body, her _swevyra_ \- "life force" - and the powers it granted, to wreak havoc during the peace talks with the Goa'uld. Several of Stargate Command's people had died at Amaunet's hand. Lucy herself had nearly died stopping Amaunet, and in turn Meridina had almost died when Lucy killed Amaunet.  
  
 _And now she has to live with what Amaunet did to her, with her_ , Lucy was thinking. Robert could sense the thought with surprising ease. While some aspect of these " _swevyra_ " powers were still difficult for him to use, mental linking with Meridina and Lucy was becoming easier with each passing week.  
  
While they were in uniform, Meridina was wearing the traveling robes of a Gersallian Knight of Swenya, or _swevyra'se_ as the Gersallians called it. A blue robe with the hood lowered was over a beige-tinted vest. A tied strap around her waist held up the loose, baggy trousers of the same color. Her dark hair was brushed downward, sweeping out slightly around the ears before curling back so that the ends pressed against her neck. She had only a small bag being carried on her shoulder. As a Knight of Swenya, Meridina owned little.  
  
A small, sad smile came to her face when she saw them waiting. "My friends," she said simply. "I am glad to see you."  
  
"We wanted to see you off," said Robert.  
  
"I appreciate the sentiment," Meridina stated. She looked to Lucy. "I know you wished to come with me, Lucy, but I will be fine."  
  
Lucy forced a smile to her face. She knew how much Meridina was hurting on the inside. She'd seen her with her defenses completely lowered. "I just don't want you to be alone."  
  
"I will not be," Meridina assured them. "Now, I believe you have duties to attend to, yes?"  
  
Robert nodded. "Julia and Nick are handling the new crew, but we're due for the supply run to Beta Durani 4." He looked at the time with his multidevice. "So we're due to jump out in about four hours."  
  
Meridina nodded. "Indeed. Do not worry. I shall see you again in a couple of your weeks."  
  
The station PA system repeated the prior boarding call. Meridina looked to the airlock. "I need to go now. I trust you two will continue the exercises I showed you?"  
  
They nodded, giving each other aside glances.  
  
"Then there is nothing more to say." She bowed her head to them. " _Mi rake sa sweyvra iso_ , Robert and Lucy."  
  
"Mee rockey sa sweevyra icho," was Robert's rather inaccurate reply.  
  
Lucy allowed herself a giggle at his expense. Robert's continued inability to deal with Gersallian phonetics was a source of amusement to everyone else. " _Mi rake sa swevyra iso_ , Meridina," she said, proud that as troublesome as it was she could at least make the sound right. She gave Meridina a hug.  
  
Meridina was used to such displays of friendship and affection and accepted the hug, returning it with a slight embrace. When Lucy pulled back she gave Lucy the small smile she knew Lucy wanted, needed, to see, and turned to board her ship.  
  
Lucy and Robert watched Meridina disappear into the corridors of the transport craft. Once she was well out of sight, they departed as well.  
  
  
  
  
Julia Andreys stepped off the lift on Deck 6 and found Nick Locarno waiting for her. "Well, I thought we'd meet in the Briefing Room," she said.  
  
"I figured you'd be arriving any moment," he answered. "So I waited."  
  
"Ah." They began walking down the corridor. Their uniforms were almost a matching set, black pants, primarily black shoes, and a black uniform jacket, with the secondary color on the trim of each being the red of ship control and command. Julia had three gold stripes affixed to her collar, showing she was a Commander, while Locarno had two gold stripes to show he was a full Lieutenant. "So why am I assigned to this detail, again?", he asked.  
  
"Because you're the senior Navigation Officer," Julia reminded him. "And we have an entire group of navigation and piloting officers coming aboard to join the crew."  
  
"How many, again?"  
  
"Twelve."  
  
Locarno chuckled. "Wow. That many? All at once?"  
  
"Well, Ensign Rutira transferred to the _Shenzhou_ ," Julia said. "Ensign Karlan was promoted and is being re-assigned to oversee shuttle piloting at Nasin Station. Ensign Yaratov finished her flight qualifications and is assigned to the fighter wing now. Ensign Kurikt is expecting and has to go back to Alakis to lay her eggs…"  
  
"...okay, okay, I get it," Locarno interrupted, shaking his head. "But it's still a little excessive."  
  
She shrugged. "We have twelve runabouts, a few dozen shuttles, and the _Koenig_. We need that full complement of piloting officers if we're going to maintain all of our usual operations."  
  
Locarno shook his head. "You love doing this kind of thing, don't you? Rattling off all of these justifications and facts."  
  
A smile crossed Julia's face. "I like to remind you all of just how good at this job I am."  
  
"Well, you don't need to convince me," Locarno assured her.  
  
"Oh, you're looking to take my fun away, huh?" Julia chuckled.  
  
"No ma'am, I am not," he assured her with a chuckle of his own.  
  
After rounding the corner of a corridor the two went up to a sliding door marked Briefing Room 2. Typically used for department-level meetings, it was currently occupied by the dozen new officers that had joined the _Aurora_ crew. Over half looked Human or Gersallian. There were three Dorei, an Alakin, and even an eager-looking Mi'qote girl.  
  
Locarno looked over the new arrivals. His eyes briefly focused on the Mi'qote girl, with her bronze complexion a strange contrast to the snow-colored fur over her cat-like ears on the top of her head. Her tail, made of the same snow-colored fur, swished as she turned to face him with bright green eyes, more feline than Human. She smiled at him and stepped to the side.  
  
The Human woman who had been behind her turned toward the door. Her dark eyes focused on Locarno and Julia. Locarno's eyes met her's.  
  
Recognition shot through his mind. Locarno's expression froze in disbelief.  
  
The young woman was his age, as she would be. Her brown hair was pulled back in a severe bun at the back of her head. Her face had a pronounced round shape to it.  
  
And given the stare, she recognized him too.  
  
Julia saw the look on Locarno's face. Concern flickered over her features. "Nick?", she asked. "Are you alright?" She followed his eyes and looked at the young woman in question, who turned away hurriedly upon seeing Julia's attention and, presumably, her rank insignia. "Someone you know?", Julia asked.  
  
"Yeah," Nick said, his voice hoarse. He swallowed. "Her name is Jean Hajar." He looked at Julia and let her see how rattled he was. "She was in Nova Squad."  
  
  


**Undiscovered Frontier  
_"What is Past..."_**

  
  
Julia looked from Locarno to the woman he spoke of. She'd turned away and found a seat beside another of the new arrivals. She looked to them again with dark eyes that were hiding any emotional reaction to their presence. As if they were just new arrivals. "Nova Squad," Julia murmured, low enough that none of the new arrivals could hear. "You mean your group of cadets when you were in Starfleet Academy."  
  
Locarno nodded. "Yeah," he said. "She and I are the only ones left now."  
  
It was clear to Julia that Locarno was in the middle of some very strong emotions. "Nick, it's okay, I understand," she said. "Just let me do all the talking. I'll arrange to have her trained by Lieutenant…"  
  
"No." Locarno shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I'm alright. It was just a shock to see her, that's all." He nodded toward the table in front of the assembled chairs. "Let's get this started. The ship's due to leave in a few hours, right?"  
  
  
Julia nodded slightly. "Right." She gave him another worried look before turning away and going to the central chair. Locarno sat to her left. The right seat was vacant. Julia cleared her throat loudly, cutting through the background noise of quiet conversations among the new arrivals. "Attention, everyone."  
  
All of the assembled turned toward them. Spines straightened.  
  
"I am Commander Julia Andreys, First Officer of the _Aurora_." Julia motioned to her left. "And this is Lieutenant Nicholas Locarno, our Navigation Officer. He and I will be responsible for your acclimation training now that you're assigned to the crew. I know some of you are eager to get into your postings, so let's try to make this quick. You will all cover shifts on the bridge at the conn, at regularly-scheduled intervals, rotating between that duty and duty as shuttle and runabout pilots. In consultation with Commander Carrey, one or two of you will be assigned to the _Koenig_. Shift assignments will be as follows. Rozowski, Kutap, Rogers, Meritami, you will be on Alpha Shift. Hajar, U'saya, Korimi…"  
  
  
  
  
Upon returning to the ship Robert went to his ready office. Jarod followed him in with a digital pad. "Oh, not you too," Robert mumbled. "And I thought Julia welcoming those new officers would give me a reprieve."  
  
"Julia is all-wise when it comes to these things," Jarod remarked with faux-sagacity. He handed him the pad. "We just need you to sign on the final receipts. All of our requisition orders were filled and we've loaded all of the supplies we can ever need."  
  
"That's good to hear." Robert took the pad and skimmed it. "Anything from Maran about our discovery?"  
  
"You mean about how Darglan technology uses Asgard technology?" Jarod shook his head. "Not yet. He's got a panel of experts looking over everything."  
  
"That's good to hear." Once Robert finished signing he handed the device back to Jarod. "Everything's ready for departure?"  
  
"Pretty much," Jarod confirmed.  
  
"Good. We're due to drop supplies off for the garrison at Beta Durani 4 before we rendezvous with the Phosako at the Durani Nebula," Robert said. "We finally got our orders in."  
  
"Durani Nebula?" Jarod considered that. "That's in a quiet sector."  
  
"The Nazis retreated from there four months ago, but they left a few surprises," Robert said. "We'll be sending them a couple of shuttles loaded with decontamination supplies and dextro-acid consumables."  
  
"Turians, then?", Jarod asked.  
  
"The Fifth Regiment. Or Platoon." Robert shook his head. "I'm still getting used to the way Turian unit organizations work. But their Fifth unit has set up a base on the northern continent to support Phosako and Alliance engineers building planetary-scale defensive systems for Beta Durani 4. They'll need extra food supplies, though, or we'll have to pull them out. Admiral Maran says it's already caused a bit of a scandal on the Citadel that our quartermasters screwed up on dispatching sufficient stores for them."  
  
"I bet." Jarod put the reader in his pocket. "Well, we'll be underway shortly. I'll have the shuttles loaded with the supplies listed on the request."  
  
"Good. We're due to launch them when we arrive in the Durani Cluster in two days." Robert nodded to him. "I'll see you for the staff meeting tomorrow, Jarod."  
  
Jarod nodded back. "See you there."  
  
  
  
  
Locarno was alone in the Lookout eating a late lunch when he looked up in time to see Zack approaching. "Any seats taken?", he asked.  
  
"Not at all." Locarno gestured to one. Zack slipped into it and immediately took a bite from his chicken sandwich. Locarno looked at his own barely-eaten meal and forced himself to take a bite as well.  
  
"So, any ETA on when you and Julie will have Ensign Hong's replacement?", Zack asked. "I'd like to know for setting up my rotation in the training exercises."  
  
"None yet." Locarno eyed Zack suspiciously. He set his sandwich down with a forceful plop. "She sent you, didn't she?"  
  
Zack gave him a look while finishing chewing a bite down. "What do you mean?", he finally asked.  
  
"Julia told you about Jean," Locarno accused. "And she sent you here to get me to open up and talk about it."  
  
Zack shook his head. "You think I need Julia's input on this stuff? The moment I heard a Nova Squad survivor was with the recruits, I knew you'd be like this."  
  
"And how did you hear that?"  
  
Zack lifted an eyebrow. "You know how things go around here. The rumor mill on the _Aurora_ reminds me of the one back in our hometown."  
  
Locarno sighed at that. "What do you want me to say, Zack? That she's reminding me of the worst mistake in my life? That I'm worried about whether I can work with her, if she blames me for her Starfleet career going nowhere?"  
  
"I suppose that's a start." Zack saw Locarno's dark expression and sighed. He set his sandwich down. "Okay, dude. This is me. I'm not Julia, I'm not Mama Hen coming to check on the chicks. I'm just a guy looking out for his buddy, okay? If you don't want to talk about it, we won't."  
  
Locarno was silent for a moment. Seeing the laid back expression on Zack's face made it hard for him to remain irritated at him and inevitably Locarno sighed. "Alright. I just… I never expected to see her again. To see any of them again."  
  
"You invited them to join us didn't you?"  
  
"Quietly, yes," Locarno confessed. "None of them answered. I can't be surprised. I got Joshua killed and nearly destroyed their careers covering it up. So after that, I figured... " He stopped.  
  
Zack saw the expression covering his face and turned. Both watched as Jean Hajar stepped into the Lookout. She was still in uniform, just as they were, an ensign's single gold stripe on her collar. Her eyes clearly swept over them before moving on to take in the rest of the Lookout. She wordlessly moved on to the bar.  
  
"Well, talk about your timing," Zack murmured.  
  
Locarno let out a breath. "To hell with it," he said. "Let's get this over with." He stood up.  
  
"Ah crap," muttered Zack. But he knew well enough to sit and observe as Locarno approached Hajar.  
  
Albert, the assistant lounge host, got to her first, taking an order for a drink. Locarno patiently waited until Albert stepped away before walking up beside Hajar.  
  
She'd seen him coming and turned before he could speak. "Lieutenant," she said respectfully, in a measured tone.  
  
"Ensign." Locarno refrained from sitting down for the moment. "There's actually something of a standing rule in the Lookout that we don't go by ranks here. Not between crew."  
  
"Really?" Hajar nodded briefly. "Well, then, I suppose it's 'Locarno' then."  
  
Her tone was not the best sign that this would go well. But he formally accepted her proposal by nodded and saying, "Yes. Hajar. Welcome to the _Aurora_. I admit I'm a little surprised to see you. You never answered my offer."  
  
Hajar's face curled into a thin, almost sarcastic smile. "I was still trying to salvage my Starfleet career at the time." The look in her eye became distant. "Not that it did me any good. Or Jaxa."  
  
Locarno swallowed and nodded. "I heard about her."  
  
"She was determined to make it work," Hajar said. "More determined than me, in the end. So, like Wes, I walked out. Made my way as a civilian shuttle pilot." By this point Albert returned with a glass of what looked to be brandy. Hajar accepted it with a nod and "Thanks". She immediately took a drink and considered it for a moment. "Then I heard about the marvelous opportunities of the Alliance Stellar Navy, and that my Starfleet Academy experience would be factored in if I signed up. So six months of expedited officer training and here I am, an Ensign after all." She looked to Locarno. "No thanks to you, Locarno."  
  
There was some real venom in that voice. "I'm sorry for what happened," he managed.  
  
"Yeah. Me too," she said. She took another drink and put the glass back on the table with some strength. "Let's get this out of the way, shall we? I'm sorry I ever signed up for Nova Squad. I'm sorry I ever listened to you, and I'm damned sorry I let you talk me into that damned Kolvoord Starburst plot. And if you've come to me looking for forgiveness, then you might as well keep walking, Locarno, because I'm never giving you that. You ruined our lives. You caused Joshua to die. And there's not a damn thing in this world you can do to ever make up for that." She glared at him, their eyes meeting and hers full of passionate ferocity. "You're my superior officer now and I'll respect that. We're here to do a job, after all. But we're not friends anymore and we'll never be friends again, do you understand?"  
  
Locarno nodded briefly.  
  
"Good."  
  
With that Hajar finished her glass and slammed it on the bar with some heat. She turned and, wordlessly, left the Lookout.  
  
Zack stepped up behind Locarno. "So, how well did that go?", he asked.  
  
Locarno drew in a breath. "About as well as I had any right to expect," he said in reply.  
  
  
  
  
The _Luteran_ finished making its leisurely course to the capital city Jantarihal, situated in the valley below the Great Temple of Swenya and the headquarters of the Order. Stepping out onto the open concourse of the Jantarihal Spaceport, Meridina looked up at the mountains that the Temple was built within and drew in a breath. Ordinarily she would have flown there directly from the Great Ring on a shuttle provided by the Order.  
  
But not this time. She wasn't here as a _swevyra'se_ reporting in at the Temple for assignment or debriefing. She was here for the purpose of simply coming home.  
  
A brown-tinted carrier bus was waiting for her and others. There was no fare for it, the service being a communal one supported by the municipal and planetary governments instead of the private services favored in other societies. Even if there had been one, Meridina's robes and visible _lakesh_ would have seen it waived. _Swevyra'se_ paid for little in Gersallian space, and what little they paid for was at their insistence.  
  
The bus was soon taking Meridina through the heart of the capital. The high, gleaming spires were a lovely sight, built to inspire as much as to function, with smaller buildings of round construction and slanted shapes abounding. Far below the bus, the streets flowed with rich life, a populace going about their way in the bustling roadways and walkways of the Gersallian capital. Meridina could, in the distance, make out Swenya's Column, marking the spot where the Grand Foundress refused the diadem that the peoples of Gersal were ready to place upon her brow, and where she had instead handed down the Precepts that, over a hundred years later, formed the basis of the Gersallian Interdependency.  
  
Many other species found that title strange for a country. There were Kingdoms, Republics, Associations, Federations, Empires… but 'Interdependency'? It was likely from the translation of Gersallian into other languages, for Meridina thought the Human concept of republic and communal organization best fit the Gersallian idea of the Interdependency. Of a people bound together by laws and rules commonly accepted and developed by the populace.  
  
It was not always easy. The history of first contact with the Dorei saw misunderstanding of the nature, and the Oligarchical, merchant-dominated republics of the Dorei had proven especially hostile to their concept of a society where public interest and private interest were not considered distinct from each other.  
  
Humans also seemed to not understand it very much. Lucy had, upon having Gersallian society and law explained, used the term "socialism". Meridina had been intrigued and looked that term up. She thought it a poor fit, since Human socialism seemed to be built on the idea of the government dictating the economy for the benefit of workers, and of class conflict between those with much and those with little. The idea was bizarre. Why would someone not pay another proper compensation for their work? Or allow neighbors' homes to degrade or be shut down? Certainly one might feel envy at another's superior accomplishments or compensation for skilled work of greater demand, but to outright hate them? And surely everyone, especially those responsible for the economy, understood that everyone affects one another and that letting neighborhoods go into decline or workers to starve without food or suffer without medical help would undermine social cohesion and cause conflict? Why, indeed, would anyone _want_ that sort of imbalance between different sections of society? Imbalance undermined society, after all. And it seemed this entire concept of "public" versus "private" was a sign of that.  
  
Perhaps it was simply how other species approached the idea.  
  
Meridina stopped her pondering. She was just avoiding the issue again. The thoughts constantly entering her head. The memory of Amaunet's darkness, of all of the slain in the SGC… it was just so much. _So much_.  
  
The bus flew out of the city center and into the arcologies section, where tall buildings contained a multitude of homes. The bus flew in to street level and came to a stop at one arcology. Meridina quietly disembarked.  
  
The entrance lobby was beautiful, covered in flower stands and small statuary. Meridina noted with surprise that there was a marking on one of the statues currently being removed by a young woman in the light red maintenance jersey.  
  
With curiosity Meridina approached the statue, a fairly-good rendition of a _majtan_ , a giant quadripedal herbivore of the northern forests of Tensha. The marking was blurred out so that she couldn't make out what it once was. "What has happened?", she asked the worker.   
  
The yellow-haired girl grumbled, "A marking by the Dissenters. They've been up to it a lot lately." She turned and made eye contact with Meridina's waist. Her eyes widened at seeing the _lakesh_ and her tone became more reverential. " _Swevyra'se_ , what may I…" Her teal-toned eyes looked up and met Meridina's. The stunned reverential expression turned to stunned disbelief. "Meridina? By my family…"  
  
"Penrine?" Meridina looked at her with some surprise. "My you have grown. It has been so long."  
  
An embrace was exchanged. "It is good to see you, Meri," said Penrine. "Gami will be ecstatic."  
  
"You and Leni still work to drive her to distraction, I imagine?", Meridina asked. A genuine smiled crossed her face.  
  
"We do keep in practice," Penrine boasted. "After all, you are not here any longer."  
  
"Swenya preserve me, there were times you two were so irritating…" Meridina stopped herself and allowed a laugh to come.  
  
"You laugh?" Penrine narrowed her eyes playfully. "What is this? A laughing _swevyra'se_? A laughing _swevyra'se_ who is the daughter of Karesl? Such a scandal for the Order!"  
  
The look on Meridina's face turned somber. "Is my father home?"  
  
Penrine's face shifted. Undoubtedly she had heard something of the fracture between Meridina and her father. She nodded in understanding. "At times. I have been told he is meeting with the Director and others. The Dissenters have been a distraction ever since the war started."  
  
"The Dissenters?" Meridina frowned. "Are you referring to those who opposed the Alliance?"  
  
Penrine nodded. "They grow angrier with every passing week, it seems." An uncomfortable look came to her face. "There was even a violent disturbance in Hatan several days ago, when recruiters came for the Alliance Army. I'm told one of them, a Human, nearly died."  
  
Meridina was stunned by that admission. Gersallians could be independent-minded, certainly, and there were plenty of disputes and disagreements about this or that, but the idea of _violence_ being used in them? That wasn't their way, it wasn't what was supposed to be done. Violent dissent unbalanced society, drove wedges into communities. It threatened to unravel the very concept of the Interdependency.  
  
 _There has not been political violence on Gersal since the Brotherhood of Kohbal…_  
  
How could things have become so bad?  
  
"I thought you were serving with the Alliance?", Penrine asked. "Why have you come home?"  
  
The question was painful to consider. Meridina lowered her eyes. "I needed to regain my balance, to… deal with something that was done to me."  
  
"Oh." Penrine nodded. "Well, Leni and Gami are home with your mother. Although Leni is probably still cleaning the gardens on the 12th level. I'm sure they're eager to see you."  
  
Meridina nodded and forced a smile. "As I am eager to see them. It was good to see you, Penrine. _Mi rake sa sweyvra iso_."  
  
" _Mi rake sa sweyvra iso_ ," Penrine answered cheerfully.  
  
  
  
  
Meridina's family lived in a sizable home on the 12th level, on the north side of the arcology garden. She walked through said garden after leaving the lift to enjoy the scent of the flowers and other flora of her homeworld, and others. With interest she recognized tulips, obviously transplants from Earth, and other new alien flowers.  
  
Standing in the middle of the garden, Meridina felt a gnawing anxiety build up. She had not been home in years. Her time away as a _swevyra'se_ , and now serving in the Alliance, had kept her away. She hadn't even visited last year when the _Aurora_ was repaired at Gersal. She had been so busy with Lucy's training, and hadn't wanted to face her father…  
  
A painful ache came to her heart from that. She'd punished her sisters, her brother, and her mother for the difference of opinion she had with her father.  
  
For several moments Meridina wasn't sure what she wanted to do. She felt hesitation, so unlike the decisiveness a Knight of Swenya had to show, and it gnawed at her that she was letting her experience with Amaunet affect her in such a strong way. Amaunet was dead, after all, and she was freed. The darkness had never been hers, only Amaunet.  
  
But she could still remember. She could remember the thing burrowing into her neck and seizing her body. The agony whenever she resisted Amaunet's control. The horror and pain on Sha're's face, the cries of her infant…  
  
...the dead bodies, slain by her physical hand.  
  
Meridina had to take several deep breaths in an effort to deal with that pain.  
  
She heard the rustling of leaves and turned. A young woman several years younger than her emerged. She was in a maintenance jerkin over a sleeveless blue tunic and a plain skirt of the same blue. Her eyes had the same blue as Meridina's own while her brown hair was cut short. Her eyes widened at seeing Meridina and a look of surprise came to her face. "Meri?"  
  
"Leni," said Meridina. She forced a gentle smile to her face at the sight of her youngest sister Leniraya. "It is so good to see you."  
  
"Meri!" She rushed forward and clasped Meridina's forearms with her hands. The embrace they shared was little different than the type Humans in such a situation might share. "It is such a relief to see you."  
  
"I should have come sooner," Meridina admitted.  
  
"What brings you home?", Leniraya asked.  
  
Meridina's smile couldn't hide her feelings. Especially not from Leniraya, who had inherited some of their mother's mental talents. She tried to hold back the memories regardless, knowing that it would hurt Leni to see what she had suffered.  
  
But she couldn't keep it entirely out. Leniraya's face twisted into a look of concern. "I understand," she said. "Let's go and see Mother. And Gami will be thrilled to see you."  
  
"Are you not working in the garden?" Meridina frowned. "The arcology managers will be displeased you left your work unfinished."  
  
"It is finished. Mostly." Leniraya put an arm on Meridina's shoulders, "You have returned home, they will understand."  
  
Meridina nodded and let Leniraya lead her out of the garden and to the main entrance of the family home. The markings read out the family name of Lumantala. Family names were generally not used by Gersallians as much as they were among Dorei, Humans, and a few of the other species Meridina had encountered in her journeys. And for herself, it was almost never used, as generally she only referred to herself as coming from the Order. "Draswenya" was a common way to do that for some, although she never used it herself.  
  
The door slid open as soon as the sensors reigstered their presence. Leniraya was the first through. "Our home welcomes a long and accomplished traveler!", she called out, undoubtedly amusing herself at her flowery turn of phrase.  
  
The inside of the door was the family greeting area. Chairs and small tables abounded - a distant opening showed the dining table and the kitchen beyond, and to the side would be the family's inner living area and the halls to the sleeping rooms. Or "bedrooms", as Humans would call them.  
  
A head of light blond hair graying at the temples looked up from the distant kitchen. Meridina felt her mother Drentiya's mind gently touch her own. She didn't resist her mother's mental inquiry. She was keeping the worst memories as quiet as she could manage. But she could sense her mother had an idea of what was wrong.  
  
 _Please come_ , her mother said mentally, already leaving the kitchen. She was in her cooking robe, so dinner was due soon. "Meridina," she said aloud when they were close.  
  
Meridina said nothing as her mother embraced her warmly.  
  
"Gami! Gami, come!", cried Drentiya.  
  
Gamays came bounding out of the living area and into sight. Meridina's sister, between her and Leniraya in age, wore a white vest and dark pantaloons. "Meri!", she called out, rushing past her mother and taking Meridina into an embrace. "Meri, it is so good to see you! Welcome home."  
  
"Thank you, Gami," said Meridina. "Where is Qalk?"  
  
"With Utiriluma," said her mother. "They are surveying a farmstead in the Lapana Valley."  
  
"So he has made that choice? I must wish him well."  
  
"He will be back in a few days." Drentiya put a hand on Meridina's bag. "Come, dear, your room awaits you. And then we will talk about this terrible pain I sense in you."  
  
Meridina surrendered her bag and followed her mother into the living area and toward the hall leading to their bedrooms. As they approached her old room she finally worked up the nerve to ask, "Where is Father?"  
  
The response in her mother's mind was easily read. Discomfort. Sadness. A little irritation, quickly suppressed. It was not easy for her to stand between her feuding daughter and spouse. "He is away," she said. "A meeting with some of the Dorei orders or some such thing, he will return in a day or so."  
  
In other words, she had no worry about her father arriving soon and seeing, feeling, Meridina like this.  
  
"I look forward to seeing him return home regardless," Meridina assured her suffering mother.  
  
"It will be fine, my dear. What is important is to get you settled in, and for you to share with me what hurts you so."  
  
Meridina answered her mother with a nod and followed her into her old bedroom. It was much as she left it. A single bed, a desk and chair, old clothes in the garment compartment beside the bed, a mirror. It held little more than her quarters on the _Aurora_.  
  
What it did hold was one of her few material possessions, an old trophy from her sword lessons as a child. The sight of the trophy, a brass likeness of a _talkesh_ blade, reminded her of that day she'd won it in a competition with other young initiates. Of her father's reaction and insistence she would be a great _swevyra'se_. That brought a dull ache to her heart. Her father had been the light of her life growing up, even moreso than the mother who taught her how to use her telepathic abilities,  
  
Meridina went to the bed and sat upon it. It was softer than she remembered. Drentiya sat beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Open up to me, child," she asked. "Let me see what ails you."  
  
So Meridina did.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Locarno is forced to consider his past mistakes after being shot down on a Nazi-controlled planet.

The _Aurora_ was on its way through the Durani Cluster, Rimward Liberation Zone, when they completed the jump to S4W8. Robert was in his ready office instead of his quarters for the last reports of the evening, with the ship at operating code Blue due to their relative proximity to Reich-held territories.  
  
Still, this was a quiet sector, all things considered. Only one region of Reich space was still in easy warping range of Durani and all intelligence reports indicated the Reich only had a token defensive force there. Enough to resist a minor incursion or to possibly delay a major one until reinforcement, but not enough for an offensive.  
  
The strategic situation was brightening at least. A year of build-up in the fleet meant that more new starships were entering Alliance service, including those using Darglan technology. It was making up well for the loss of the Klingon and Federation assistance.  
  
And yet… whenever Robert looked at the reports, especially the casualty list, he remembered his role in starting this conflict. And it always stung.  
  
His door chime sounded. "Come in," Robert called out.  
  
Locarno stepped in from the bridge. It would be the end of his shift for the day. "You wanted to see me before I went off-duty?", he asked.  
  
"I did." Robert gestured toward a chair and Locarno took it. "I understand that one of our new trainees was a classmate of yours in Starfleet Academy?"  
  
Locarno drew in a breath and sighed. Robert could sense his aggravation at the subject coming up. "Right, of course you know." He nodded quickly. "Jean Hajar was in Nova Squad."  
  
"I see." Robert frowned. "Well, I doubt Fleet Personnel knew about the relationship. Although it wouldn't surprise me if they did and this was another niggling little annoyance that Minister Hawthorne and Admiral Davies has thrown our way. Anyway, I'll arrange her transfer off the ship as soon as I can."  
  
"That won't be necessary," Locarno insisted. He shook his head. "I'll adjust."  
  
Robert gave him a close look. He could feel the conflicted feelings coming from Locarno. "You won't be doing her any favors, Nick, if she's still upset about what happened. She won't function at her best and neither will you."  
  
"I can do this," Locarno insisted. "I'm not going to be responsible for Jean getting dropped from her training group."  
  
"So you have a suggestion?", Robert asked.  
  
"Let me show I can work with her, and she can work with me. No matter what we feel about Josh. Someone's got to fly the _Sandar_ to Beta Durani 4. I'll let her pilot and ride as the co-pilot for training. It's a simple run. If we have any trouble, I'll remove myself from training duty."  
  
Robert put his digital reader down. "I'm not sure that's how this sort of thing is supposed to go, Nick." Seeing Locarno was about to argue he raised a hand. "Don't worry about it. Just… see if you can make the professional side of things work. Alright?"  
  
Locarno nodded. The relief radiated from him. "That works, Captain. Thank you."  
  
"Just make sure everything goes smoothly," Robert asked. "You're dismissed."  
  
  
  
  
It had been years since Meridina had cried on her mother's shoulder. Many years. She had been just a child the last time, reacting to harsh words of disappointment from her father over a childish misuse of her _swevyra_.  
  
But as biting as his disapproval of her had been, it was nothing compared to the pain she felt now.  
  
Drentiya had tears in her eyes. At her daughter's pain, and the sympathetic reaction she had on feeling it. "Meri." Her hand gently moved to wipe the tears flowing from Meridina's eyes. "My poor dear girl. To have had such a thing happen to you…"  
  
"I can still feel it, Mama," Meridina sniffled. "The darkness. Its so cold, and its angry and hateful and it wants to come back out. It wasn't even from me, but it's in me now."  
  
"The lingering influence of this 'Amaunet'." Drentiya gently held Meridina's hand. "Meridina, dear, you have always impressed me with how like your father you have become as a _swevyra'se_. We could not be more proud of you. But you must not be afraid to release your feelings. Stop struggling to contain them."  
  
"I have to keep control," Meridina insisted tearfully. "I must not let the taint grow."  
  
"Meri. Do you not see what…"  
  
They were interrupted by the opening of the door. Leniraya was on the other side. "Father is home," she said. "He has returned early."  
  
Drentiya nodded briskly. A small frown came to her face, not at the news that her husband was home, but rather as she felt all of Meridina's mental defenses snap into place. Meridina wiped away the tears swiftly and drew in several breaths, forcing control on herself. Control that Drentiya thought would prove more harmful than anything else in the long run.  
  
"He will understand," she said gently to Meridina.  
  
"I am a _swevyra'se_ ," Meridina answered. "I control my emotions. They do not control me." Her eyes closed while the last tears dried on her face.  
  
"Meri…" _Child. You must be open about your pain. You must not be afraid of it. Or of showing it to your father._  
  
But the stoic look that returned to Meridina's face had told Drentiya she had failed in that argument. For the moment. Meridina was too committed to proving herself to her father to ever show that weakness in front of him.  
  
Mother and daughter returned to the living area of the family home. Gamaya was still working at her study desk, where the wiry figure of _Mastrash_ Karesl now stood behind her to observe with interest. He looked over to Meridina upon their return to the room. He was still in his robe of purple with blue trim - signifying his place on the Council of the Order of Swenya - with a light blue vest and tunic underneath joined with dark blue trousers. He gave Meridina an intent look. "You have come home, I see," he said. "How are you, ch-…"  
  
He stopped. For a moment his eyes focused completely on her, scrutinizing every detail of Meridina's expression, her posture, her face. But that was just the openly-visible component for what he was doing, as his own powerful life force examined his daughter's. "Meridina, what has happened?", he finally asked. "I can feel…"  
  
"A Goa'uld called Amaunet took control of my body," Meridina said simply. "She used my _swevyra_ for her own ends while she was in control."  
  
Nothing was said for a moment. Karesl was clearly feeling out for a sign of deception on the matter. But seconds before Drentiya could scold him for that, his expression softened. "I sense the truth of what you have suffered, daughter. Words cannot describe how much it pains me."  
  
"Thank you," she answered plainly. "I have taken a leave from the _Aurora_ to come home and meditate upon my experience. To be sure I have control of this taint."  
  
"A wise choice, daughter," Karesl answered. "I can arrange healers to see you."  
  
"Mother has already been a great help, I would not wish to impose…"  
  
"It is never imposition," he chided her gently. "You know that, child."  
  
Drentiya narrowed her eyes at her spouse. "Meridina does not need the Order pushing her into suppressing what happened. She must face it if she is to move on."  
  
"Ordinarily, love, I would agree with you," Karesl answered. "But this is no mere pain. This is the taint of Darkness, brought on by the Goa'uld. Meridina must be careful in how she treats it lest the darkness within come out through negative feelings. That could cause the Darkness within to grow out of control.  
  
"I would like to have Mother attempt to aid me for a few days, _Mastrash_ ," Meridina said formally. "I will report to the Great Temple for time with the healers afterward."  
  
Karesl nodded at that. "An understandable choice, child." His expression warmed slightly as he looked to the rest of the family. "Hopefully Qalk will return soon. It has been too long since our family was together."  
  
"I look forward to seeing him as well," Meridina agreed.  
  
"Until then," said Drentiya, "I will get the evening meal finished."  
  
"I shall prepare the table then," pledged Meridina. She turned and walked into the dining room  
  
Drentiya looked at Karesl intently. _I love you dearly, but please, for our daughter's sake, do not make politics of this. She deserves better._  
  
_Our daughter has already made herself a point of politics, my love_ , Karesl replied. _It may be out of my hands. But I will do nothing to directly cause such a thing to happen. This I promise you_.  
  
There was a dissatisfied look on Drentiya's face. But she said nothing more while returning to the kitchen.  
  
  
  
  
The usual morning routine saw Robert out of bed, into the shower, and then off to the Lookout for breakfast. Julia joined him there and they took to a table after exchanging "Good morning"s. "We'll be to our training point in six hours," Robert noted. "We should probably get those shuttles off to Beta Durani soon."  
  
"The first launched this morning," Julia revealed. "Dahler and Uwambe are piloting."  
  
"Making good use of the trainees then," Robert noted.  
  
"The tricky thing is the _Sandar_ ," Julia remarked. "I noticed the flight crew listed on the plan. Are you sure about that?"  
  
"Nick asked," Robert replied. "He wants to prove he and Hajar can work together. A shuttle run together on a training flight and cargo mission sounded right."  
  
"He's been tearing himself up on the inside ever since he saw she came aboard." The look on Julia's face was a concerned one. "I wonder what that's like. He's done so much to move on since he joined us, but having that old mistake thrust in his face all the time."  
  
"I think he'll work through it."  
  
  
  
  
Locarno arrived at the shuttle bay first and quickly found the sleek shape of the _Sanjar_. The Alliance's transport shuttles resembled the newer Federation craft more than the old box-shaped shuttles Locarno had flown in Starfleet Academy and afterward. The nacelles were swept slightly back from the main body of the shuttle and positioned for more efficient warp field generation. The interior was twenty percent larger than the Federation models and, in this case, was packed full of crates containing dextro-compatible medications for the Turian garrison on Beta Durani 4. The rear hatch was already sealed and a side hatch at the cockpit, not found on Federation craft, was his point of entry.  
  
Hajar was waiting for him in the piloting seat. Her duffel bag was tucked away beside her. Locarno did the same with his own, carrying hygienic supplies and a few snacks for the trip as well as a change of uniform. The replicator was accessible despite the full load, but there would be no sleeping on the fold-out beds until they were unloaded.  
  
"Lieutenant," Hajar said. There was no coldness or bitterness in her words, just calm and cool professionalism. Locarno found that a bad sign. "I've completed the pre-flight checks. All systems are ready."  
  
Locarno settled into the co-pilot chair. He double-checked her results as a perfunctory gesture and nodded. "Looks like we're ready to go."  
  
Hajar pressed her fingers to the shuttle's communications panel, set between them for mutual access. "This is shuttle _Sandar_ to flight control, we're ready for launch."  
  
The voice that replied was Slavic-accented, although not Russian. "Sandar, _you are cleared for launch._ "  
  
Hajar quickly activated the thrusters on the shuttle. Locarno remained the quiet observer to the process while Hajar piloted the _Sandar_ into open space. They cleared the shuttle bay at the back of the primary hull. "Preparing for warp."  
  
Locarno checked his screens. "Your course is clear. Naqia reactor is powered up for warp flight."  
  
"Setting course for Beta Durani 4, Warp 4.7." Hajar finished flying the shuttle away from the graceful lines of the _Aurora_. "Engaging."  
  
The shuttle thrummed with energy. Locarno watched as space distorted around them until the streaks of warped space appeared outside of the shuttle. He leaned back and sighed. "ETA, Ensign?"  
  
"Ten hours, fifteen minutes, roughly," she replied.  
  
He glanced back to the rear compartment, still full of crates, and sighed. "Ten hours stuck in here."  
  
"This is why Navigation Officers usually don't go on supply runs." Hajar gave him a look. "I'm not dumb, Lieutenant. This is some attempt to get me to talk."  
  
"It's not," Locarno replied. "It's an attempt to see if we can work together despite what happened."  
  
"Do your friends not trust me?", Hajar asked. "Should I just go ahead and ask for a transfer? Then I can see if it blows up this career too?"  
  
There was some heat in her voice from that inquiry. "No." Locarno shook his head. "I don't want that to happen. That's why I wanted to make this run with you. I want to prove that we can serve together without having the past get in the way."  
  
Hajar barely glanced his way. She seemed far more interested in her flight controls. After several seconds she finally spoke. "Like I said. We can work together professionally. But that's it."  
  
Locarno nodded. He held back the sigh he felt wanting to form. It was going to be a _long_ flight.  
  
  
  
  
The brilliant sunlight was shining through the opening in the arcology structure, bathing the 12th level gardens in warm light. Meridina felt the warmth of her homeworld's sun on her face. It was a sensation she had not felt in a long while.  
  
She was wearing a sleeveless tunic and knee-length skirt, both of dull brown coloring. The ground of the garden was not unpleasant to sit upon, legs crossed in meditative position.  
  
Meridina was focusing upon her mind and spirit. She sought her center and thought of letting it soothe in the warm flow of the Flow of Life. She would let it calm her. Like it always did. Like it…  
  
The flashes returned. She could feel the cold power, the burning fury, of Amaunet. She remembered how the Goa'uld had twisted her power and exposed her life energies to darkness. The faces of the people Amaunet had killed…  
  
_The people_ you _killed._  
  
Noise caused Merridina's eyes to snap open. She looked to her side and saw Gamaya walking up toward her, wearing a blue sleeveless pull-over blouse and matching blue baggy pantaloons. Gamaya looked at Meridina and asked, "Are you okay?"  
  
Meridina forced herself to be honest. "I am not."  
  
Gamaya reacted by sitting down beside her older sister. "I'm so sorry you were hurt like that, Meri. You have done so many good things, to know you are hurt…."  
  
"Gami." Meridina wiped at her cheek to remove the tear still there. Afterward she set that hand on her sister's shoulder. "You have always been so sweet. But I know you have examinations coming and need to study."  
  
"I can study later," Gamaya insisted. "But I want to be here for you. I mean, I'm not a _farisa_ like Mother or Leni, I'm certainly not _swevyra'se_... but I can still help you."  
  
Meridina put a soft smile on her face, for Gamaya's benefit. "I know. Ever since you were little, you have always wanted to be helpful." Meridina did not put into words the frustration she knew her sister felt. Out of all of them, Gamaya was the only child born without mindwalking or a connected _swevyra_. That outcome showed in the quiet frustration now appearing on Gamaya's face. "Your place to help will be in the sciences, where you have a brilliant future." Meridina pulled Gamaya into an embrace. "You should be working toward that."  
  
"But what about you?", she asked. "This has happened. And there are the stories…"  
  
Meridina blinked. "Stories?"  
  
Gamaya swallowed. "I just… sometimes things come up. I know you and Father are opposed now. And the Dissenters said something about you, that you're teaching our ways to outsiders who don't accept the Order."  
  
Meridina blinked at that. "Really? They have said that?"  
  
Gamaya nodded. "It has upset Mother and the others greatly. Father as well, although he never shows it."  
  
"I am not surprised." Meridina drew in a quick sigh and forced a smile back on her face for Gamaya. She stood to her feet. "Come, it is almost time for midday meal. Leniraya is making those stuffed _hitashan_ you adore."  
  
"Oh, I do. She's gotten better at making them than mother."  
  
"I'll believe that when I taste them." Meridina led Gamay back to the family home, all the while worrying about what she said.  
  
The Dissenters weren't new, although the name was fairly new. There had always been a part of the population opposed to membership in the Alliance. But how did this group amass so much power so quickly? And how could they know anything about her, much less have any ground to accuse her of teaching outside of the Order?  
  
What was going on with her homeworld?  
  
  
  
  
It was the equivalent of evening hours on the _Aurora_ when the _Sandar_ finally approached Beta Durani. "Securing from warp," Hajar said as a shudder filled the shuttle from dropping out of warp. Her tone, Locarno noted, was as emotionless as before.  
  
Locarno put down his digital reader and checked his boards. "Hrm. That's odd." He watched the display with interest.  
  
"What is?"  
  
"I'm not picking up any signals from the surface," Locarno confirmed. "And the satellites aren't responding."  
  
Hajar considered this. "Could there be a major communication fault in their systems?"  
  
"This widespread? I doubt it." Locarno frowned. "I don't like the looks of this. The _Paxson_ and _Moore_ should have signaled us by now. I'm attempting to…"  
  
There was a flash of energy and Locarno's hands shot to another control "Raising shields!", he called out. And not a moment too soon, as the shuttle shuddered violently. "I'm picking up Reich fighter craft coming up from around the planet!"  
  
"Evading!" Hajar's hands went back to her controls.  
  
The _Sandar_ began a series of sharp maneuvers as emerald energy beams lashed out at them from the direction of the planet's north pole. "I'm sending a signal to the _Aurora_." Locarno hit several keys. "But I don't know if I'm getting through the jamming."  
  
"Re-route power from the warp systems," Hajar suggested. "These things are faster than we are at warp anyway, we'll never get away."  
  
"Good suggestion." Locarno began doing so, putting as much energy as he dared into the ship's transceiver systems to transmit the mayday. "This is the shuttlecraft _Sandar_ to all Alliance and friendly vessels, we are being attacked by Nazi fighters. I repeat, Reich craft are in orbit of Beta Durani 4, we are under attack. Mayday, mayday…"  
  
Beta Durani 4 began to loom large on their screen. "What are you doing?", he asked Hajar.  
  
"I'm going to take us into atmosphere," Hajar said. "We've got no cover out here, but I might be able to lose them planet-side."  
  
As if to reinforce her point, the shuttle shook again. "Shields down to seventy percent," Locarno noted. Another hit rattled them. "Make that fifty-five percent."  
  
"Hold on!"  
  
The _Sandar_ plunged into the atmosphere of Beta Durani 4. The dagger-shaped Nazi craft pursued them, disruptors firing as they went. Hajar jinked and slid the shuttle back and forth trying to avoid the fire as, outside, the void of space became blue sky.  
  
A burst of sparks came from the rear of the ship. "I'm losing power!", Hajar shouted.  
  
"We just lost our primary power conduit. The secondaries are damaged and can't handle enough load…" The shuttle violently shuddered beneath them. "Shields down to twenty percent."  
  
By now the shuttle was soaring over an alpine vista. Hajar banked them around a rocky outcropping on the side of a mountain and twisted the ship to follow the contours of a canyon formed by the river flowing at the bottom. It was, by the standards of an aerospace craft, a very narrow canyon for maneuvering. Locarno could see Hajar was absorbed with piloting them through the canyon and avoiding the sides.  
  
The enemy craft didn't quite follow, preferring to remain above the canyon. Locarno's sensors showed the two pursuers flying above them. "Looks like they're trying to head us off at the end of the canyon." He looked at her. "Remember that tactical scenario we did back in the Academy? Stardate 45144?"  
  
Hajar nodded. "The one where we caught Josh and Wes by surprise?"  
  
"Yeah." Seeing she knew what he meant, Locarno went to work at his console. "Putting all available power into the phaser banks," Locarno confirmed.  
  
Hajar nodded. "On my mark…" She looked at her instruments and where the Nazi fighters were relative to them. They were starting to pull ahead of them to cut the _Sandar_ off. "Mark!"  
  
Hajar jerked the _Sandar_ into a climb, at an angle that presented the phaser banks to the enemy fighters. Locarno triggered the phasers as soon as he had a shot.  
  
Twin beams of amber energy lashed out from the corners of the bow and converged on one of the Nazi fighters. They sliced through the shields of the ship and into its engine plant. The Nazi fighter disappeared in a fireball that spread flaming debris into the forest below.  
  
The other fighter was already maneuvering clear when Locarno shot at it. His first shot was a glancing hit at the side. The second shot was wide. Hajar banked the shuttle to give him a better shot for his third blast.  
  
The phaser beams hit home again. They sliced into the enemy ship, creating a smaller explosion that did not completely envelop the enemy ship. Instead it started to spin and fall downward, robbed of the power it needed to stay in the air.  
  
Hajar and Locarno looked at each other with grins of relief. Survival and victory briefly trumped their difficulties over the past.  
  
"So where did those fighters come from?", Hajar asked. "Those are short-range craft, right?"  
  
"They had to have come from another ship." Locarno looked to his sensors.  
  
What he saw wiped the smile from his face.  
  
"Land," he said. "We need to land, now."  
  
"What's wrong?", Hajar asked. She was moving to execute the order. "What are you seeing?"  
  
Locarno swallowed. "Multiple warp contacts." He looked to her with fear in his eyes. "It's an invasion fleet."  
  
Hajar swallowed and directed her attention back to her console. "Alright, I'm…"  
  
The was a sudden violent surge through the shuttle that wanted to tear them from their seats. More sparks erupted from machinery spaces in the back. "They're firing at us from orbit," he said.  
  
"I'll try to land us in some cover."  
  
Hajar flew the shuttle toward the forested foothills near the canyon. Another emerald beam lashed out from the sky at them, barely missing from her desperate maneuvering. A second missed. A third.  
  
The next connected. The rear of the shuttle exploded in a roar that deafened the two occupants. "Engines are out! Firing retro-thrusters… I have no helm control!"  
  
Locarno watched the ground racing toward them on the screen. "Brace yourself!", he cried.  
  
There was nothing more they could do before the _Sandar_ began smashing through trees on its way to a violent landing.  
  
  
  
  
  
It was near the end of the evening shift and Robert and Julia were putting in their final hours for the day on bridge watch. Lieutenant Jupap, Jarod's Alakin subordinate, was at Operations, and the helm was currently manned by Ensign Violeta Arterria, a young woman from the Sirian League who was, like some other Sirians on the crew, gene-tailored to have exotic hair and eye coloring, in this case possessing richly-colored purple hair and matching purple eyes, while her dark bronze complexion was a more natural and common coloration. Lieutenant James Jarke, a young African-American from the Earth Confederacy, was at tactical, and Caterina was finishing up her own shift at Sensors.  
  
"Lieutenant Jupap, any word from Beta Durani?", Robert asked. "The _Sandar_ should have arrived by now."  
  
"I have received no regular transmission," the Alakin answered.  
  
Julia gave Robert a look of concern. "Is everything okay?"  
  
Robert looked back and shook his head. "I just have a… bad feeling, is all."  
  
"The general kind or the metaphysical kind?", she asked.  
  
"Sometimes I can't be sure," he admitted. He drew in a breath and tried to relax in his chair. "Ensign, what's our ETA to our destination?"  
  
"Six hours, thirty-eight minutes, Captain," she answered.  
  
"The _Carmichael_ and her convoy isn't scheduled to arrive until the morning anyway," Julia reminded him. "And the Phosako are expecting us to be there."  
  
"Yeah. But…"  
  
A tone came from Ops. Jupap checked it. "I have detected a garbled transmission from Beta Durani. It appears to be a distress signal."  
  
Robert turned his head quickly toward Ops. "Put it on, Jupap."  
  
Crackling came over the speakers. " _This is… shuttle... to all Alliance...._ ", came a voice both realized was Locarno, through bursts of sharp static. " _...are being… -cked by Nazi figh-... I rep-... Reich craft... orbit of Beta Du-.... under attack. Mayday, mayday…_ "  
  
Robert frowned and clenched his hands in frustration. "Could we make it there and then back for the rendezvous? At high warp?"  
  
"If we turn right around and leave again, sir," Violeta answered.  
  
"Even then, if there's a strong enemy presence at Beta Durani 4, we could warp right into a Nazi attack group." Julia shook her head. "And if the Nazis are moving into Durani, that convoy's going to need us sooner, not later. We can't risk it."  
  
The look in Robert's eyes told her that he knew she was right, and that he hated it. "Okay, we can't go…"  
  
Julia nodded. "But the _Koenig_ can."  
  
  
  
  
Just twenty minutes later, Lucy was settling into an auxiliary engineering station on the _Koenig_ 's small bridge. Beside her Lieutenant Magda Navaez, _Koenig_ 's operations officer, was finishing her part of the launch. "All umbilicals released. All ship systems normal."  
  
"All naqia reactors are functioning," Lucy added, looking at her own board. "Warp power at your command."  
  
Zack leaned to one side of his chair. "Take us out as soon as the doors open, Ap. Then set a course for Beta Durani 4, maximum warp."  
  
Lieutenant Creighton Apley, Zack's first officer and the usual pilot of the ship, nodded. "Main doors opening now. Releasing docking clamps."  
  
The dock built into the rear section of the _Aurora_ 's primary hull finished opening up. The _Koenig_ slipped out of it and turned away before picking up forward velocity. The _Aurora_ 's engine nacelles flashed with light as she jumped back to warp. _Koenig_ prepared to go to warp as well, but instead of a flash of light from her nacelles there was a ripple through her form until she, to the eye of any who might have been watching, disappeared.  
  
"We're at Warp 9," Apley confirmed several seconds later. "ETA to Beta Durani system is approximately four hours."  
  
"Good. And the cloak?"  
  
It was Magda's turn to make a report. "Operating normally."  
  
Zack nodded. "Good to hear it." He drew in a breath and relaxed in his chair. "Well, it's been awhile since the parents let us out, hasn't it?"  
  
"Looking forward to it, sir," Apley affirmed with a small smile.  
  
"But not the part about getting shot at?", Zack asked with amusement.  
  
"Oh, never that, sir," was Apley's reply.  
  
Zack's only reply was a thin smile.  
  
  
  
  
Pain woke Locarno up. He looked up at the intact cockpit window of the _Sandar_ , now half-buried under soil and roots. He blinked as awareness began to return to him.  
  
He glanced over to his side. Hajar was starting to stir. It was clear she was unharmed as well. Their harnesses had kept them from pitching forward at impact, substituting that experience with a more survivable, if still painful, bruising of the shoulders.  
  
Locarno snapped his harness off and turned back toward the rear of the shuttle. The crates of supplies were still secured despite the force of the landing. Panels in the back were flickering from inconsistent power supply. Locarno checked his panel and confirmed that the shuttle's power systems were offline from damage. Backup battery power was the only thing they had left. Enough to run a protective shield for the next ten or so hours. He quickly activated those systems.  
  
Hajar sat up in her chair, holding her head. "Everything okay?"  
  
"We're on battery power only. I've got the shields up so they can't just beam us up."  
  
Hajar examined her board. "I can't even get a response to the engine diagnostics."  
  
"This shuttle's completely trashed. She's not flying again." Locarno got out of the chair and went to a compartment. He pulled out the survival pack, pulled a pulse pistol out of it, and fixed the pistol and its holster to his belt at the right hip. He double-checked his multidevice to confirm it had no damage.  
  
Hajar was going for her survival pack too. "Do we stay here or try to run for it?"  
  
"I don't think going anywhere will help," Locarno said. "We'd show up on sensors the moment they scanned for life signs."  
  
"Maybe if we put together a jammer?", she suggested. "A passive jamming device to obscure our life readings?" She looked back to the shuttle panel. "Give me an hour and I can rig something up."  
  
Locarno gave her a look. "Really?"  
  
"After Nova Squad was broken up, I considered engineering," she said. "I took a course during the following semester, Field Engineering."  
  
That made Locarno remember something. "Field Engineering… wasn't that under Commander Terox? That nutty Denobulan?"  
  
"You have _no_ idea," was Hajar's murmured reply. She pulled open the panel. "Just give me a minute, I need to get some parts from the shuttle's sensor suite."  
  
Locarno returned to his chair and brought up communications. "Subspace communications are out, but I've got localized comms. It looks like the Nazis are focusing on the generator sites. The Turians and the engineering detachments are putting up a hell of a fight, though."  
  
"Anything from the other shuttles?", Hajar asked.  
  
"Nothing. They might be helping the defenders." Locarno shook his head. "We're about seventy kilometers from the nearest friendly base. If we stretch things out, we'll have just enough rations to survive the trip."  
  
"If only we hadn't been carrying the _Turians_ ' rations, right?", Hajar sighed, her voice muffled from inside the shuttle panel.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Hajar stuck her head out briefly. "Do you think anyone got the distress signal?"  
  
Locarno could have confidently asserted that it had to have been heard. But they weren't stupid cadets anymore, and Hajar wouldn't be tricked. He shook his head. "Can't be sure. I didn't get any responses."  
  
A grim look came to her face. "Well, let's hope someone called for the cavalry, then."  
  
All he could think to answer with was a nod of agreement.  
  
  
  
  
Robert was preparing to get into bed for as much sleep as he could manage when the return call came from Admiral Relini. The Dorei woman, her blue eyes the same shade as her skin and long purple hair pulled into a braided ponytail, was the commander of the 9th Fleet and responsible for this entire region of space. " _Captain, we are facing a Reich offensive in the Argolis Sector, so I will make this brief. We've confirmed the full extent of the enemy's attack in Durani. Our analysts believe this is a secondary operation meant to distract us._ "  
  
"So what do we do about Beta Durani?"  
  
" _The forces you are linking up with will be committed to the counter-attack. They are already accelerating to meet you ahead of schedule. Your new orders are to make the rendezvous as soon as possible and escort the force through to Beta Durani 4._ "  
  
"Yes, Admiral. If I may ask, I've got crew I sent to Durani, do we have any information on them?"  
  
" _Our last transmissions said nothing definite. We know one shuttle was shot down._ "  
  
Robert nodded. "I understand. I'll inform you of when we make the rendezvous with the _Carmichael_. Dale out."  
  
He looked up from his desk after Relini's image disappeared. Angel was sitting at the edge of his bed. She looked at him intently. "No word, then."  
  
"No word," he said.  
  
Her expression was pensive. While Locarno hadn't been an original member of their group, or even their outfit in the Facility, he was now a friend and colleague. The idea they were going to lose one of their own was a hard one.  
  
"Zack will be there in an hour or so," Robert said to her. He pulled off the uniform jacket and hung it upon his uniform rack "And hopefully Lucy and Kane can do something to get them to safety."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Once Robert had shed the rest of his uniform he sat down beside Angel. She put an arm around him as he put one on her shoulder, and they drew close enough for a good night kiss.  
  
  
  
  
The forest was not quiet. Chirping and whooping sounded in the distance and made Locarno regret that he hadn't looked up on the native fauna of Beta Durani 4. He patted his pulse pistol, as if to assure himself it was present.  
  
A cry of frustration came from within the shuttle. Locarno went to the hatch and looked inside. Hajar was seated on the floor, a set of tools laid out with several pieces of electronics and technology around her. She had her fingers within what looked like the remains of a tricorder. "I'd like to punch whoever designed these things."  
  
"Have you tried…"  
  
Hajar glared up at him. "I know far more about this than you, so don't go trying to second-guess what I'm doing."  
  
Locarno stopped abruptly. "Sure. I wasn't intending to step on your toes. But if we're going to get moving, it should be soon. Night's going to fall soon, and I don't want to be out in that forest at night. There's no telling what the local animals will be like."  
  
"Actually, they're mostly herbivores in this part of the world," Hajar pointed out. "It's the alpines of the southern hemisphere where we'd be in real danger."  
  
Locarno looked at her with surprise. "And you know this because…"  
  
"...because I read the profile on the planet," she said. "Just in case. Shouldn't you have done the same?"  
  
Locarno tried to hide his embarrassment that he had, in fact, not done so. He'd been far too distracted.  
  
Hajar chuckled lowly at that. "Well, big surprise there." Her look turned bitter. "You were never one for doing all the prep work. You always left that to us. You had more schemes to cook up, more wild ideas for stunts, for flight formations. Maybe if you were more of a planner you would have seen how nasty the Starburst move would have been, and Josh would still be alive."  
  
Locarno glowered at her. "You're not going to stop on that point, are you?"  
  
"Given that it _ruined our lives_?" Hajar returned the glower. "You think you can ask me to just forget about that? About how you screwed everything up for us?"  
  
"You could have said no," Locarno retorted. "You could have stopped me."  
  
"No, we couldn't have," Hajar shot back. Her round face twisted into an expression of raw anger and hurt. "There's nothing we wouldn't have done for you, Nick. Nothing! We were ready to follow you anywhere, and you led us right off the damned cliff! Because all you cared about was looking good to the rest of the Academy!"  
  
"I was trying to make us the best!"  
  
Hajar laughed bitterly. "I know." She shook her head. "And now look where we are. Your stunt killed Josh. Jaxa was so determined to prove herself she signed up for a mission that got her killed. Wes is gone. And you and I are out of Starfleet. Although it's not so bad for you I see." Her eyes flashed with frustration. "You, the one who deserved the least, got the most out of all of us." Hajar motioned angrily to the gear she was working on. "So, Lieutenant, would you please allow me to resume my work? Or do you _want_ us to be caught?"  
  
Locarno had nothing to say to the diatribe. He nodded softly in the direction of the hatch. "I'll be on lookout outside. Let me know when you're done?"  
  
"Certainly," she answered, promptly resuming her work.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Locarno is forced to consider his past mistakes after being shot down on a Nazi-controlled planet.

Lucy and Kane were on the _Koenig_ bridge when the ship came out of warp near Beta Durani 4. Both looked at the viewscreen with some trepidation. "Well." Lucy swallowed. "That's not good."  
  
Zack was in his command chair, looking at the same thing. At least a dozen Reich warships were orbiting the planet. He spotted _Z-2500_ s mixed in with the short-ranged _A-1700_ gunship variants. Three _Dresden_ -class light cruisers and a _Sedan_ -class heavy cruiser were the largest units visible…  
  
...save for the final one.  
  
"Is that a _Lutzow_?", Zack asked. "Because the profile looks off."  
  
Magda examined the readings from the _Koenig_ 's sensors. "The silhouette and characteristics are close. I think we're looking at a new battlecruiser class."  
  
"This isn't just a raid then. They want to take the planet and hold it." Zack frowned as he thought on their situation. "And we don't have any sensor shadows we can hide in long enough to transport the Marines down?"  
  
"They're too widely-spread around the planet," Magda confirmed.  
  
"Well, it looks like Plan B." Zack turned in his chair to face Lucy and Kane. "Up for this, Lucy?"  
  
"I'm not sure we'll be able to evade detection even if I do a powered down drop," Lucy remarked. "Not unless we get sneaky."  
  
"Didn't you outfit the _Rio_ with a cloaking device?", asked Zack.  
  
"A cloak can't stop them from seeing our atmospheric wake," Lucy replied. Her brow furrowed. "We'd have to go slow enough, and be low enough, to make the wake so weak they wouldn't spot it."  
  
"Sounds like it could work, though," Zack said. "And you could fly as close to Nick and his friend as possible."  
  
"The only question is, can you survive long enough to get us into the atmosphere," Lucy asked him.  
  
Zack looked back to the ships present. He reached for his intercom and keyed it. "Bridge to Engineering."  
  
" _Derbely here._ "  
  
"We're about to present our Nazi friends with a target for a few minutes, Karen. Can you shore up the shield systems?"  
  
" _I'll give it everything I can._ "  
  
"Thank you. I'll let you know when we need it." Zack returned his attention to the screen. "Bring up tactical view." The straight video image was replaced by a model of the planet and the enemy ships around it. "Do we have any idea on where their shuttle crashed?"  
  
"I'm not… wait." Magda looked at her board intently. "I've picked up an engine trail consistent with a shuttle's drives. At this range I can't give you an accurate reading, but I can give you a rough location." She looked over at Lucy. "You'll need to scan for yourself once you're in the atmosphere."  
  
"Thank you." Lucy looked at the tactical screen. "So we have a plan."  
  
"We have a plan."  
  
"Good." Kane nodded. "I'll get my Marines loaded. See you down in the bay, "  
  
"I'll be right there," Lucy promised. She continued to examine the enemy force until after Kane left. "The trouble may be getting off-planet once we have them," Lucy noted.  
  
"I'll stay as close as I can under cloak," Zack promised. "But I can't do much else until we have backup. And I get the feeling we'll be waiting for that."  
  
"So do I."  
  
They looked at each other. "Good luck, Lucy," Zack said to her. "Bring Nick home, please. And everyone else."  
  
"I'll do what I can," she promised. "Make sure you get home too?"  
  
"I plan on it."  
  
After an exchange of understanding nods, Lucy departed the bridge. Zack looked back to the tactical screen. "Okay, it looks like one of those gunboats is right in the middle of our preferred approach vector for atmospheric entry," he noted. "April, as soon as we decloak I want that thing out of the way. Ap, you up for the atmospheric flight?"  
  
"I'm ready for it," Apley promised. "Let me know when we go."  
  
"We're ready to shift power to shields," Magda confirmed. "And I've started the necessary calculations for an in-atmo warp jump."  
  
"Good. Relay those to Apley when you're done." Zack gripped the arms of his command chair tightly. It had been months since the _Koenig_ had been in a battle. _What a way to return to the war_ , he pondered.  
  
  
  
  
The runabout _Bastilone_ was not the standard runabout, as her decidedly-non-riverine name made clear. Lucy settled into the helm and looked over at Kane, who was manning the station beside her. "You've been flight training?", she asked him.  
  
"I'll remind you, Lieutenant, that this is a _Marine_ craft," he answered. "Of course I trained on her." Lucy gave Kane a skeptical look, so he soon added,"Holo-simulation training, I mean."  
  
Lucy smirked. "Of course." She completed the flight checks. The _Bastilone_ was a _Wingate_ -class assault runabout developed exclusively for the war, built for inserting strike teams into behind-the-lines targets. One had been assigned to the _Aurora_ as a just-in-case measure. "A good thing I was one of the test pilots."  
  
Behind them, a gruff female voice asked, "Aren't they all about the same?"  
  
"Lieutenant Lucero, meet Lieutenant Pauline Barker. Lieutenant Barker, this is Lieutenant Lucilla Lucero." Seeing Lucy's inquisitive look, Kane added, "The Lieutenant joined us at the Rings, she's one of my platoon officers."  
  
"Right." Lucy turned her attention back to the board. "I hope everyone is strapped in, because our pre-flight checks are complete and I'm signalling the bridge that we're ready."  
  
Barker nodded and stomped to the back of the runabout, where the Marines' seats were present. Her voice began barking orders.  
  
Lucy gave Kane a look. "I thought Sergeants did things like that?"  
  
"Wartime commission, Lieutenant," Kane answered.  
  
Lucy nodded. A blue light flashed on the console. "They're moving in. We drop in approximately three minutes."  
  
  
  
  
The _Koenig_ was almost up to the nearest _A-1700_ when she decloaked. Amber fury erupted from her forward emitters and slammed the dagger-shaped Nazi gunship repeatedly until the vessel, its defenses overcome, exploded in a white fireball.  
  
The enemy fleet recognized their arrival. Other ships began to converge on them as the _Koenig_ dove toward the atmosphere. Red light gathered at her bow from the re-entry friction acting on her shields.  
  
Disruptor fire came in as she breached the mid-point of the upper atmosphere. The emerald beams were fired from the emitter points on two more of the dagger-shaped Nazi ships - their _Z-2500_ s and _A-1700_ s - and stabbed repeatedly at _Koenig_ 's shields. From the angle she couldn't fire back directly and so took the enemy fire in silence.  
  
"We're approaching the optimal drop point, sir," Apley stated.  
  
"Magda, open links to our planet-side forces," Zack ordered. "Let's make sure the Nazis think they know what we're up to."  
  
"Communication links established. We're receiving updates on their situations, casualties, remaining supplies."  
  
"Drop point reached."  
  
Zack nodded. "Open the shuttle bay door."  
  
 _Koenig_ 's shuttle bay opened up on the bottom of her hull. The _Bastilone_ dropped out and shimmered out of view, joined by sensor probes to fully exploit the deception. The enemy would likely destroy the probes in the coming minutes, but that was part of the plan and thus fully expected.  
  
" _Bastilone_ is away. Under cloak. I'm reading minimal wind current disruption."  
  
"Let's give them a minute." The ship shuddered slightly from another direct hit. "Prepare for warp jump."  
  
"Preparing for in-atmo warp jump," Apley confirmed. "Coordinates and course laid in."  
  
The ship rocked again. "Shields down to eighty percent. Enemy cruisers are moving into engagement range."  
  
Zack nodded. "Steady…"  
  
Apley keyed in more information. "Course is clear. At your command, sir."  
  
"Steady…" Zack checked the timer. Every moment they spent here was another bit of distance the _Bastilone_ could go without being noticed. He'd never feel right again if he felt he hadn't given them as big a chance as he could.  
  
They took another series of hits. "Shields down to sixty percent," Magda warned. "We're starting to take bleedthrough damage to the hull."  
  
Zack nodded. He checked the timer again and decided it was the best they could hope for. "Warp jump on my mark, Ap."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Three… two…" Another hit rocked the ship. "....mark!"  
  
Apley keyed in the command to generate a warp field. The _Koenig_ shot out of orbit as if thrown by a catapult.  
  
And the _Bastilone_ continued on, creeping her way to the surface to avoid detection.  
  
  
  
The whistling noises and hoots and other such sounds were keeping Locarno alert while he and Hajar tromped through the forested foothills of Beta Durani 4. They were following one of the streams that emptied into the central river. "This stream doesn't come from the mountains," he noted aloud, looking down the side of the tall hill they were on at the running water.  
  
"It must start in an underground spring." Hajar took a moment to look around. "Or more than one. There could be all sorts of small caverns and waterways carved into the rock these hills are built on.  
  
Hearing that prompted Locaro's attention to the time. It was getting dark. "We might have to stop and set up a camp," he said. "If there are caverns we can slip into they'd be great places to hide."  
  
Hajar looked back at him while consulting her multidevice, specifically the directional scanning. "We've still got about two hours of daylight left. Let's keep pushing."  
  
"We'll want to save some daylight for preparations," Locarno pointed out.  
  
"I remember Professor Sirok's field survival course as much as you do," Hajar insisted. "I know what we need to do."  
  
"You really like bringing up our Nova Squad days," Locarno pointed out.  
  
Hajar looked back at him with a sardonic look. "It was the last time in my life that I was happy."  
  
Locarno stopped. "You're never going to give me an inch, are you?"  
  
For a moment Hajar ignored him and kept going. It was only when he'd called to her again that she finally turned. "I can't give you an inch, Locarno," she answered. "Last time I gave you any leeway was when you talked me into supporting that damned starburst training."  
  
"Dammit, Jean!", Locarno shouted. "I made…"  
  
He stopped upon hearing the distant sound of a cracking twig. Assuming the worst he jumped and tackled Hajar to the ground.  
  
A loud "whmpf" sound filled the air, and the tree just past them exploded, showering Locarno and Hajar with splinters. Locarno felt the stinging pain of one of the splinters cutting into the back of his head, drawing a little blood.  
  
The two scrambled forward as another disruptor bolt landed, this time within inches of Hajar's arm. They got back to their feet and ducked behind a thick tree. Hajar looked over her multidevice's sensor scans. "There's at least four of them," she said. "They're trying to flank us."  
  
"Please tell me they're not in powered armor," Locarno said. He'd seen the others train in simulations against the _Panzergrenadiers_ and knew they'd be dead if one of those was around.  
  
"I'm not picking up any armor suits."  
  
"That's a relief." Another disruptor bolt slammed into the tree, gouging out a chunk of it. "Not a big one, but I'll take it."  
  
"We have to get to better cover," Hajar insisted. She looked over her multidevice. "There's a spring cavern entrance about a hundred meters to our southeast. If we can get in there maybe we can catch them in an ambush."  
  
"Or they'll just throw a grenade in and finish us off," Locarno pointed out. He pulled out his pulse pistol and fired off a couple of shots toward the shooter.  
  
"Do you have any better ideas?", Hajar countered as a challenge.  
  
Locarno had to admit that he didn't. They had to change their position to avoid being encircled. And they didn't seem to have any good choices. "Right. Okay, ready?"  
  
Hajar nodded.  
  
"After their next shot…" When said shot blasted away more of the tree, leaving very little cover for them, Locarno leaned out again and fired his pistol in automatic mode. Blue pulses flew out toward the shooter, a figure in _feldgrau_ crouched behind a long-fallen tree nearly sixty meters away. Said figure ducked back into cover to avoid the spray of fire.  
  
Hajar leapt from cover and began running in the direction she had indicated. Locarno put his pistol to the brink of overheating before stopping and running to pursue. She stopped and turned, pistol up, and fired at their pursuer as Locarno ducked low under a shot that went wild. He turned and fired off another series of shots while Hajar continued onward.  
  
The pursuit took them over the uneven ground. It had been hard enough walking through it - at a run they were at constant risk of tripping over thick silver-sheened roots and old rotten remnants of the fallen trees. Every time cover was offered they would turn and fire, forcing their pursuer's head down.  
  
The other pursuers were moving up alongside them, appearing only on the sensors of their multidevices. Hajar started firing to their left and front to suppress the attacker from that angle.  
  
The forest gave way only partially to the banks of a stream. Crisp, dark water flowed by at a fair current. "We're almost there," Hajar urged, just starting to pant. The adrenaline rush and fear were becoming overwhelming.  
  
The opening in the ground was partly below the ground level. The gentle rushing of water was pouring inward. "This doesn't look… like a spring," Locarno said, panting now from the exertion of running for his life.  
  
"We'll never make it to the next!", Hajar retorted. "Come on!"  
  
As they entered Locarno couldn't help but feel they were entering a trap. They plunged into darkness until Hajar's multi-device activated a light for their benefit. She found an outcropping of rock along the wall and slid behind it. Her pulse pistol came up.  
  
Locarno looked around. A stalagmite formation growing out of the ground looked like the best cover and he got over to it. He crouched low and checked his gun. He'd used up a lot of charges and only had two fresh power batteries for the weapon. He readied a fresh one and sat there, waiting, for the first enemy to come through.  
  
One did. He didn't get a good look at the man, firing right at the entrance in time with Hajar. Blue pulses repeatedly hit the Nazi soldier's torso and he fell over, dead. A figure behind him retreated from the barrage of shots. A grunt of pain came from the retreating figure after a blue pulse from Locarno's weapon nicked him along the shoulder.  
  
For several moments there was oppressive silence. Hajar and Locarno exchanged looks. Was the enemy going to rush through? Or would they do something else?  
  
"Attention Alliance officers," an accented voice called out. "Surrender and you will not be harmed."  
  
"We've seen the holos of your prisoner camps, pal, so the answer is no," Locarno retorted.  
  
"If you do not surrender you _will_ die."  
  
Locarno looked to Hajar. They both figured what was coming next.  
  
And they both looked toward the darkness deeper in the cavern.  
  
Both ran from their cover and went deeper, following the flow of the water.  
  
About ten seconds after they took off running, a thunderous roar sounded behind them, so loud it hurt their ears. The explosion was joined by the terrifying sound of falling rocks and the vibrations that could only come from a cave-in.  
  
They ran. They ran as fast as they could, as the rumbling caught up behind them. The explosion had destabilized the delicate structural elements that kept the underground opening intact. If the entire thing collapsed on them…  
  
Locarno pushed that thought out of his head, unwilling to follow that sentence through. Their only hope was to keep running, to keep running until they got to safety, and all while the rumbling continued to get closer and closer.  
  
They arrived at what looked to be an opening up of the cavern to a wider, and hopefully safer, space. Hajar went through first and Locarno got to the opening…  
  
And then there was pain, pressure, and the blackness of unconsciousness.  
  
  
  
  
The _Bastilone_ flew over the blue fields of a tree canopy, marking the temperate forest that the remnant engine trail from the shuttle had led Lucy to. The runabout had crept its way through the atmosphere, managing to go just slowly enough to avoid detection of its atmospheric wake, at the cost of precious time. Now they were in position to a point where the impulse drive signs faded.  
  
"I'm not getting anything on comms," Kane revealed from his station.  
  
"Given the jamming in the area, I'm not shocked," Lucy murmured. "It looks like they're using localized jamming."  
  
"What? From a backpack source?"  
  
"No." Lucy looked out and slightly up of the cockpit window. " _That_."  
  
The craft that moved overhead was smaller than the runabout, but the speed with which it zipped through the air showed it was powerful in its own right. Four uniformed figures were standing on top of it, manning what looked like gun stations and a control panel, with a railing encircling their position.  
  
"Assault craft," Kane muttered.  
  
"Nazi flying saucers," Lucy sighed, not sure whether to laugh or groan. "You've _got_ to be kidding me."  
  
"Eh, the Taranak use something like those," Kane pointed out. "I mean, if you're going for low-level aerial ground-attack craft with hover flight, the saucer shape isn't bad for multiple firing angles."  
  
"Whatever. That thing is going to seriously ruin our day," Lucy said. "And if we blow it up with the ship, we'll have to decloak, and the orbiting starships will blow us out of the sky too."  
  
"Can't you just use your life force mumbo jumbo stuff on it?", Kane asked.  
  
Lucy gave him a sardonic look. "I've never manipulated something of that size with my power before, Commander." She shook her head. "I don't think we should rely on stopping it that way. We need a way to ground it."  
  
"Or blind the damn thing," Lieutenant Barker suggested.  
  
Lucy thought on that. Slowly a smile crept across her face. "That is a very good idea," she said.  
  
Under Lucy's control the _Bastilone_ flew even lower, nearly brushing the treetops as it got below the Nazi assault craft. "We don't even need to decloak for this," she said. "Kane, we're going to run a powerful surge through the main sensors. Keep an eye on the stress levels for our systems, please."  
  
"Sure." Kane gave her a confused look. "What are you planning on doing again?"  
  
"The electronic equivalent of shining a blinding light in their eyes," replied Lucy.  
  
"Oh." Kane grinned in acknowledgement and agreement.  
  
Under Lucy's guidance the _Bastilone_ kept its position. Energy surged into the systems on the runabout that would emit the pulse Lucy planned. An electronic signal that would burn out the sensing gear on the Nazi craft, or at least their IR scanners and similar systems.  
  
Once she confirmed the pulse had gone off Lucy began flying onward. A check to the sensors showed the craft was flying away, this time at a much faster speed than it had been hovering before.  
  
"Looks like your trick worked, Lieutenant," Kane said.  
  
"So it does." Her hands moved over the controls again. "It looks like we've got a potential landing zone just alongside the river. Sensors are showing what looked to be a crashed shuttle about two kilometers south of the river. No life signs."  
  
"That doesn't mean anything," Kane insisted. "They might have fled."  
  
"Yeah." Lucy nodded. She hoped that was what had happened. "Okay, I'm going to fly us to the shuttle crash site. Ensign." She turned to the backup piloting officer she'd brought along, Ensign Yang. The young Anglo-Chinese man nodded in acknowledgement of her imminent command. "You'll take over piloting from here. Set her down at the river spot I indicated and keep the cloak on. We'll call for you if we need you."  
  
"And for Christ's sake, make sure you pay attention to our codes. If we're sending the duress code on the subchannel keep this thing cloaked," Kane added. "Lieutenant, have Perelman and Icahn stay behind with the Ensign to guard the ship."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
While Barker prepared the Marines and brought out the two who would remain behind, Lucy finished flying them to their destination. She brought the runabout as low as she dared above the trees before stepping away from the console for Yang to take over. While Kane oversaw the Marines jumping out into position - wearing their light powered suits they weren't in any danger of hurting themselves from the twenty-plus meter fall - Lucy changed out of her flight uniform and put on her field armor. It was purple like Meridina's, sans robe since wearing such a thing in this terrain was just asking for it to repeatedly get ensnared.  
  
Once that was done and she had secured her _lakesh_ and her pulse pistol to their proper places at her hips, Lucy went through the Marines' seating area and to the waiting back hatch. Kane was standing there, his light armor suit active. "My team's already scouted the crash site," Kane said. "No bodies, and there are clear signs of survivors."  
  
"Or the Nazis could have removed their bodies… no, then they wouldn't need that assault craft out here, would they?" Lucy smiled thinly. "So they're still alive."  
  
"Hopefully."  
  
Lucy nodded. "Alright, after you Commander."  
  
"You sure about this, Lieutenant?" Kane gave her a look. "You're not wearing a suit. I've got shock absorbers rated to a height of fifty meters. You've got unpowered armor."  
  
"I've got _swevyra_ ," Lucy reminded him. "Or whatever you want to call it. I can use my life force to absorb the impact."  
  
"Just so long as we don't have to carry you after you break your legs," Kane said. "See you on the ground." He stepped to the end of the short ramp and jumped off.  
  
Lucy took a moment to breathe and clear her mind. She had to suppress the small voice of doubt that told her that no, she couldn't do this, this was foolish, and this was going to hurt. Doubt was her enemy, just as Meridina had taught her.  
  
With certainty and readiness in her mind, Lucy jumped from the back of the runabout. The ground rushed up toward her from their height and she would have seconds to react before landing. Using those seconds she focused her power below her. The kinetic energy that would go through her body upon landing would, if this worked, be redistributed safely and evenly in the air around her. She'd still have a bone-jarring landing, but nothing would break.  
  
When she hit, it was with a small "BOOM". Soil and debris flew away from the impact point with a violent wave. Lucy had landed on one knee to help focus her redistribution of the resulting energy reaction. Much to her relief, the impact went as planned. It jarred her, certainly, and it hurt a bit, but she hadn't broken anything.  
  
"I've got a trail," one of Kane's people called out. "Leading to the southwest. Looks like two people."  
  
"I've got another trail. At least two," said another nearby Marine. "Parallel."  
  
"Fan out. Tajak, Poulastides, you're watching our backsides. Barker, you're in the middle with your squad. Lucero and I are taking point."  
  
A chorus of "Yes sirs!" answered Kane. He looked at Lucy. The darkness of the moonless night and Kane's visor being dark made it impossible to see his face, but Lucy could imagine his slight grin at her. "After you, Lieutenant."  
  
Lucy nodded. With her multidevice display up and active she brought up the trail the Marines found and began to follow it. Behind her, the entire group started moving.  
  
  
  
  
  
When Locarno woke up, he was in pain. Pain that went all through his legs and the lower half of his back, almost numbing in its intensity. He coughed at the dust that had gotten into his mouth and nostrils.  
  
Most of his surroundings were dark, but there was a source of light nearby. That light, after he blinked a few times, was revealed as a small fire.  
  
Locarno tried to move. Pain and pressure kept his legs pinned in place. He gasped involuntarily at the quantity of the pain and discomfort he felt.  
  
Hajar appeared in his vision, sitting beside the fire that was clearly closer than he had imagined. She was working on her multidevice intently. 'Jean?", Locarno said with his voice hoarse.  
  
She looked up and over at him. "How are you?", she asked.  
  
Locarno grimaced. "Not good."  
  
"Which is still better than you might have been otherwise." She went over to him and knelt beside him. "Don't try to move too much. You got caught in the cave-in. The cave nearly fell on all of us."  
  
With Hajar closer Locarno could see the bruising and cuts on her dust-covered hands. "You dug me out?", he stated. "Thanks."  
  
"Don't thank me yet." She shook her head. "I couldn't get everything."  
  
Locarno could both feel and see that when he looked behind his shoulder to the broken stones still pinning him down. He let out something that sounded like a sigh and a groan had collided in his throat. "Well, I thought my legs had gone numb. Good to see I was wrong about that." He took a breath and looked back to her. "Any sign of more?"  
  
"No," she said. And this cavern system goes on for kilometers. At least, it does according to my device scanners."  
  
"Maybe there's another exit." Locarno nodded. "You should go."  
  
Hajar looked at him. "What?"  
  
"If you can find another exit, it's probably for the best if you keep going," Locarno continued. He grimaced. "I'm not going to be in any shape to follow."  
  
"Ah." She nodded. An irritated look came to Hajar's face. "So now you want to be the sacrificing hero. I'll stay right here."  
  
"Dammit." Locarno clenched his fists. "Jean, I'm being serious."  
  
"And so am I. I'm not leaving you to die just so you can feel like a hero!"  
  
"And what if they find a way in here?" Locarno gestured toward his legs. "You can't get me out alone. The only way for any of us to get out of here is for you to go and to remember the way back to me. If we're lucky, maybe friendly forces can get back in time."  
  
Hajar didn't answer him. She turned her head away for a moment.  
  
"I'll make it an order," Locarno said.  
  
"I'll treat it like you would, and ignore it."  
  
"Seriously, you're doing this now?!" Locarno smacked a hand to the ground. "I'm trying to work with you, Jean! Please!"  
  
She didn't immediately react. Locarno saw her go back to fidgeting with the device in her hands. In the process she turned her back toward him, signaling the conversation was over.  
  
He almost laughed. He wanted to. This entire trip had been meant to show that the past was the past and they could still be professionals. Instead it had made it all too clear that the past still mattered… and now he was stuck with her, unable to move himself, or to move on from what happened.  
  
Locarno laid his head on his arm and thought, quietly, on his few options.  
  
  
  
  
The stars and moon shined silver light through the center of the arcology and into the 12th level garden, illuminating the quiet place while Meridina sat there, legs folded, hands together in gentle repose. She focused upon herself, upon her power, her _swevyra_ , and the emotions that could guide and effect how it manifested.  
  
For so long this meditation had always worked to center her feelings. She would press her feelings and every raw, untoward emotion, every feeling with a hint of darkness to it, would seep away in the face of light.,  
  
But now, whenever she felt like letting go, her mind filled with images of those killed by Amaunet. She could feel the Goa'uld's vicious hatred and fury, the self-centered arrogance, as it felt when Amaunet had held her captive. And her own feelings, the anger and rage she felt at how Amaunet had violated her autonomy as a person, the pain in her heart...  
  
Meridina tried to fight it. She murmured a mantra, a rhyme in Gersallian repeated in an orderly, melodic way to help focus. Meridina would not let this control her. She would control it. She would restrain it. She would push these feelings away as she always did. Focus on the light . Focus on it. Focus on positive feelings, positive emotions. Control them. Control…  
  
But she couldn't. The thoughts and feelings came roaring back. She kept thinking of Lucy. Poor, brave Lucy, who had stood against her, had fought her to a standstill with every ounce of will she had. The clash of their weapons. The savage joy when Amaunet had raked Meridina's _lakesh_ through Lucy's flesh.  
  
 _I will kill your precious student_ , the Goa'uld had told her. Not in words, but in savage malevolent feeling.  
  
Reliving those memories made the meditation a sham. Meridina couldn't control them, she couldn't push them away. Why? Why did they still torment her? Why couldn't she move on?  
  
 _Why couldn't she get rid of the darkness?_  
  
"It is odd to see you so troubled, Meridina."  
  
The voice made her look up. Tears had formed in Meridina's eyes, tears from the frustration she felt within, but even through the blurred vision they caused her Meridina could see the shape of her father standing alone in the starlight. He was clad in the simple white tunic and brown vest he always kept for his private meditations.  
  
Anger and shame welled up within Meridina. Every erg of her mental effort went into crushing these emotions, and all others, and to again regain her center of calm.  
  
Karesl shook his head. "Meridina, you have always sought to impress me with your skills. But do you really believe I do not know what you are feeling?" He sat on the ground opposite from Meridina and assumed a meditative pose. "Your mother's gift and your _swevyra_ make it very hard indeed to not sense your moods."  
  
"It is odd that you can speak of knowing my feelings given how far apart we now are," Meridina remarked lowly.  
  
A thin, bitter smile came to Karesl's face. "Ledosh has always been a very charismatic, very loyal man. I am not surprised by the faith he has in you. I simply wish it was for other causes."  
  
Meridina seized upon that; it was a way to cease speaking on her failures before her father. "Were you not once friends? Didn't you train in the same cadre? Now you are enemies."  
  
"Yes to all of those things, although I protest at describing us as enemies," Karesl said. "But Ledosh's views have become radical. And his insistence, your insistence, upon the prophecy…" He visibly stopped himself.  
  
But he hadn't done so early enough, not to avoid Meridina's frustrated retort. "Why are you so _insistent_ , Father, on this course? Of following Goras and his isolationism? The Alliance is everything we might have dreamed of. It holds the power to swing the universes toward the Light."  
  
"And it holds the potential to drag us all down into darkness," Karesl replied. "The Human nations and worlds are fractious and squabbling. They keep no balance amongst each other, they do not recognize the interdependence of beings but insist either on absolute individual power or complete control. They are worse than the Dorei in this regard, and we are but one part that might get swamped by the rest. Indeed, we may have already begun…"  
  
"The Dissenters?", Meridina asked.  
  
"There are those who always insist on rebellion," Karesl noted. "So long as they do not harm others or call forth darkness in other ways, there is nothing necessarily wrong with that. The colonies have long been a way for those with the fire of youth to leave behind those they cannot achieve balance with. But now they have the Human example of demanding change. And I fear they have begun following Human examples of using violence to push for that change." Karesl drew in a breath and easily recovered his center. Thinking about such things was painful for him. To see thousands of years of social peace threatened, and threatened in part by people whom agreed with him and on another part by his own daughter…  
  
"The Council could step in," Meridina said. "Reconcile the factions."  
  
"That has been our usual way, but it does not work now. Many Dissenters accuse the Order of instigating our admission to the Alliance. They do not trust us." Karesl shook his head. "Perhaps they are right. We have had such an effect upon this new Alliance, and now we will be feared for it."  
  
Meridina thought back to Commander King of the attack ship _Sladen_ , who had served with the _Aurora_ while the _Koenig_ was elsewhere. The woman had proven to be a spy, working for Alliance Naval Intelligence and Admiral Davies in particular, sent to investigate how much Meridina and her Order were directly influencing the _Aurora_ crew. When King had been discovered, she had revealed this fact and another: that the Gersallian government, advised by the Order, had threatened to withdraw from the Allied Systems if Minister Hawthorne and Admiral Davies prevailed in stripping Robert Dale and his friends of their ship. "I have heard that the Order involved itself in the attempt to take my comrades from their ship," she murmured.  
  
"Yes we did." Karesl gave her a careful look. "Or rather Maklir did after Ledosh and the others with him pushed. And what has it gotten us? Suspicion and paranoia from the Humans as well." He shook his head. "You believed, daughter, that the Alliance would usher in a golden age of peace, of tranquility? It is a source of dissension and disruption as well, and I fear that the war with the Reich has only worsened this."  
  
Meridina considered her father's words. She knew well enough that they were slanted by his own views, by his alignment with Goras and his isolationist ways. But she thought of that marked statue, of the reports of violence, and wondered… what if she was wrong? What if Ledosh was wrong? What if they were harming their people by their actions in support of the Prophecy of the Dawn, and all for nothing?  
  
All Meridina had ever wanted was to serve proudly as a Knight of Swenya, to uphold the Code that embodied everything that was good and noble about the Gersallian people. She was ready to die for that. Had always been.  
  
But… she'd been breaking it, hadn't she? With her training of Lucy and now Robert, with her devotion to the idea that the Prophecy was coming true, and that even the rules she had cherished could be circumvented if it was necessary to support that greater achievement.  
  
Meridina did not usually doubt. Doubt was anathema to a Knight of Swenya, to a wielder of _swevyra_. The energy of one's life only worked its will with the universe when unclouded by uncertainty and doubt. There could be no half-measures. You either did or you did not. Act or don't act.  
  
But now doubt gnawed at her.  
  
The darkness inside of her, the darkness left by Amaunet, grew colder, as if to remind her it was there. That she couldn't be certain anymore, not while it lingered.  
  
Karesl noticed the look on her face and extended his hand to clasp her arm. "You have suffered much lately, daughter. It is well you are home. Come, now, let us go back inside. You need your rest." He stood and offered his hand to help her up. "And I would be wrong to press this upon you while you still recover from your experiences. Your recovery is more important."  
  
Meridina murmured her agreement. She let her father guide her back into the family home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Locarno is forced to consider his past mistakes after being shot down on a Nazi-controlled planet.

Lucy and Kane were in the lead for the advance through the darkened, night-time forest. The animals of Beta Durani 4 seemed to pay them little mind, which was much to Lucy's pleasure. _I am not the outdoors type_ , she thought to herself.  
  
Kane was busy looking over the ground. "The tracks are picking up right about here, it looks like they started to run."  
  
"And no wonder why." Barker stepped ahead of them and surveyed a tree to the side. A tree that, on closer inspection, had clear chunks of its trunk missing. "Looks like the Ratzis caught up to them," the gruff woman stated.  
  
Lucy nodded and knelt down. She closed her eyes and remembered what Meridina had told her about sensing others through their mutual life forces. How she could feel for those who didn't have the connection to the universe she did. Here the Flow of Life was different than it would be around sentient beings. The animal and plant life gave it a darker tinge. Not the cold darkness of negative thoughts but the absence of conscious thought. The life around her was built on instinct and habit.  
  
But she could feel the embers of consciousness in the Flow of Life around her. The remnants of thoughts that were once here, the echoes of those far away. She could just about sense immense frustration and irritation. The frustration of a hunter having to struggle to catch their prey.  
  
_That would be the bad guys, then_. Lucy kept on, trying to feel out for any other sensations.  
  
"Lieutenant?", Kane said, looking at her. "We can't just stand around."  
  
"Shh," she insisted. Lucy drew in a breath and re-focused. She had to go further afield, further away, hoping that she'd feel something, that she'd…  
  
There was a sense of anger at the edge of her perception. Anger and grief and regret. She could feel physical pain. She… felt worry about a situation. Frustration at being trapped. Aggravation at stubborness.  
  
_There you are_ , Lucy thought.  
  
"They're still alive." Lucy stood up. "I can feel them."  
  
"Sure? Because I've got nothing on sensors," Kane replied.  
  
Lucy gave him a look. "Yeah, I'm sure," she said with some exasperation. "This way."  
  
They moved on, following the tracks to the southwestern course of the nearby stream. The tracks remained constant, showing two people running and gunning, stopping to cover each other as they went.  
  
"Local topography suggests underground caverns, sir." Corporal Ijala's voice had that strange pitch common to Alakins speaking English. "Perhaps they fled underground."  
  
"Probably a good idea with bad guys in orbit," Kane noted. "Everyone's electronic stealth gear checking out?"  
  
"That won't do us any good against orbital sensors using heat scans," Lucy noted. "We just have to hope that any heat scanning they do doesn't have enough resolution to show them us against the background of the forest."  
  
Their path took them to a cavern opening. The light was too poor to see directly the indications the multidevice was giving off. "I'm definitely picking up disruptor damage to the area. It looks like they ducked in here."  
  
Kane motioned to his Marines and went in first with Corporal Mendelssohn. Several moments later he called out "Clear!". Barker motioned to three others to take up defensive positions at the cavern opening while Lucy entered to join Kane.  
  
They didn't far into the cavern before finding a wall of loose rock. "Looks like someone triggered a cave-in," Kane muttered. "My suit's scans still show no life signs."  
  
Lucy nodded and went up to the wall of rock now blocking their path. She concentrated again, feeling around it, through it, to see if she could sense anything.  
  
She quickly felt the sensations within. The same anger and frustration, guilt and shame, concern…  
  
"It's them," she said to Kane. "I can feel them."  
  
Kane nodded. "Maybe they're jamming their life signs from our sensors?"  
  
"Maybe, it's possible with the right tools." Lucy brought up her arm and began operating her multidevice, trying to see if she could form a connection to Locarno's.  
  
  
  
  
Locarno had almost nodded off when he heard the tone come from the area of his forearm. Hajar heard it too. For the first time in a while she looked back at him and away from whatever it was she was doing. "Someone's sending me a narrow-beam transmission." Locarno used his hand to accept the message.  
  
_Nick, are you there?_ The ID code was identified by his system as Lucy Lucero's.  
  
"It could be a trick," Hajar pointed out.  
  
"It could be, but I doubt it." Locarno activated his audio receiver and transmitter. "Locarno here. Hajar and I are alive, but we're stuck behind rubble."  
  
After several moments the signal came through again. " _We could tell. Have you tried exploring to see if there's another exit?_ "  
  
"That's a little hard," Locarno answered, "on account of the fact that my legs are buried under a bunch of rocks. And I'm pretty sure both of them are broken."  
  
" _What about Ensign Hajar? Didn't you send her to look for a way out?_ "  
  
At Lucy's question Locarno gave Hajar a sharp look. "I tried. But she has other ideas."  
  
There was no immediate answer to that. " _Ensign, are you listening?_ ", Lucy finally asked.  
  
"I am, ma'am," Hajar replied, finally looking up from what she was doing.  
  
" _I hope, I really hope, you had a good reason to defy a direct order from your superior officer,_ " Lucy said, " _because if I find out this is drama due to your background with him I'm going to personally report you for jeopardizing yourself and maybe others out of sheer pettiness._ "  
  
Locarno winced at the heat in Lucy's voice.  
  
"I was finishing some modifications to my multidevice scanner, ma'am," Hajar responded. "I've turned it into a sonar mapping device and I've been delicately pinging for the last ten minutes. " She gave Locarno an intent look. "If you go about four kilometers to the south of the cavern entrance I think you'll find some kind of opening."  
  
That prompted further quiet on the other end. " _Four kilometers_?", Lucy repeated. " _...that's some pretty good thinking, Ensign. Hold tight there, we'll be in touch._ "  
  
The call ended after several moments. "Good thinking," Locarno said, looking at Hajar now. "So now we wait."  
  
"They still have to fight their way to us," she reminded him. "I'm sure the Reich troops are after us too." Hajar set her device down. "She's worried about you, isn't she?"  
  
Locarno nodded. "Lucy's been around since the beginning. I mean, with the crew that used to run that Darglan Facility. The people who recruited me."  
  
Hajar nodded. "So basically… she's one of your replacements? For us?"  
  
Locarno's expression turned stony. "No," he said frostily. "She's not."  
  
"Ah." Hajar's voice betrayed evident skepticism.  
  
" _Nobody_ could replace the squad," Locarno insisted. "And I've never tried. What they gave me is something you're clearly not interested in." He only gave her a moment to look to him again before he continued. "They gave me a second chance."  
  
"That's nice." Hajar glared at him. "And what about the rest of us? We didn't get second chances. We had to live under the cloud of what you did while you got your precious second chance."  
  
"That's why I tried to get you to join us back then!", Locarno protested.  
  
"So what, I was supposed to just walk out on everything?", Hajar retorted. "Walk out on Starfleet, on the Federation, on everyone I know and love? And become some renegade like you?"  
  
"Then that's your choice, but I did what I could to give you one!" Locarno, more than anything, wanted to move and to get out of the trap he was stuck in. But the weight of the rock remained too great. "I can't undo what happened to Josh, Jean! I wish I could, but I can't! All I could do was try to do the right thing, for you and the others. I thought it'd be enough when I… when I confessed, when I got kicked out of the Academy. That the punishment they ordered for the rest of you would be enough and you could move on with your careers. I'm sorry it didn't turn out that way."  
  
As he spoke, Locarno felt the defenses he'd built up within himself, the walls that kept in his feelings about what he'd done, begin to just crumble away like nothing. He had done everything he could to move on from Nova Squad, from Josh Albert's death, but in the end… it was still something he couldn't walk away from. He had caused Josh's death. And no amount of excuses, no matter how true, could diminish that fact.  
  
"You, Josh, Jaxa and Wes… you were the best," Locarno said through the tears forming in his eyes. "I admired every one of you for what you were and could be. I… I was flattered that people like you were so loyal to me. That you cared about what I had to say." He swallowed. "That… you saw me as your leader. All I wanted was to show the world, all of Starfleet, how great we were as a team."  
  
Hajar nearly spoke. But at the words died in her throat. She had opted to wait and see what else he had to say.  
  
"The Kalvoord Starburst seemed like just the thing," Locarno continued. "It just made so much sense at the time. That we could do it, and make it work, and it would show everyone that there was nothing Nova Squad couldn't do." He shook his head. The dust from all of the pulverized rock around him became small clouds in his blurred vision. "But I was stupid! I was arrogant! I had to prove I was good enough to lead and do anything! So I pushed you all into it! And I got Josh killed! And… and if I could find anyway to undo that, any way at all, _I would_. But I can't bring him back, and I can't bring Jaxa back, and I can't give you and Wes your lives back. All I could do was this… to join the others and make up for what I did to you, and to give you the chance to join me if you wanted." His voice grew hoarse from exhaustion. "I… I don't know what else I can do. How I can even begin to make it up to you..."  
  
At that point Locarno stopped. He felt tired and alone. He'd done everything he could with Hajar, to show her that he wasn't the brash and arrogant fool he'd been as a cadet. That he had learned from his mistake.  
  
Even now he had to admit he'd been wrong. He had asked Robert to let him take this trip to prove he could work with Jean Hajar as an officer. But he knew that hadn't been true. He'd wanted to show her that they could be friends again. To find some way for that to happen. Because if they could be friends again…  
  
….if they could, it would let him move on.  
  
Hajar remained eerily silent. It seemed like an eternity in the making. All of that, and she still wouldn't say anything?  
  
Locarno, through the dust and tears, finally noticed the tears flowing down Hajar's face too. "Dammit, Nick," she muttered. "It would have been so much easier if you were the same arrogant idiot from the Academy."  
  
He looked at her, confusion on his expression.  
  
Hajar sighed and sat down next to him. "The truth is… we're not going back to that. Not right now." Hajar shook her head. "I can't. I just can't. All of my dreams went up in flames when we tried that Kalvoord Starburst." After she was answered by silence, Hajar continued. "Maybe you deserve a second chance from me. But I can't give it." She shook her head for emphasis on that point. "Not right now. Not when it feels like you were the one to get all the breaks."  
  
As answers went, it wasn't satisfying. But Locarno didn't feel himself in a position to question it. He had another question on his mind. "So the answer to this entire trip is… no. We can't work together."  
  
"There is far too much in the past," Hajar said. "I'm not ready to move on. Not while I'm trying to get my life back." She looked over at him. "If we survive this, I'm going to request a transfer. It might not look very good on my record, but it's the only way forward for me."  
  
"I'll talk to Captain Dale and the others," Locarno answered. He couldn't keep the disappointment he felt out of his voice. "If we survive."  
  
"Pretty long odds of that, it looks like," Hajar said.  
  
"If you get the chance, though, leave me behind," Locarno insisted. "Please."  
  
Hajar looked back to him with an uncertain look in her eyes. Her round face, now smeared with dirt mixed in with sweat, was dim with the light of their camp behind her. But he thought he could see something of a glint in her eyes. "Alright," she finally answered. "I'll go."  
  
The only answer he could muster was a nod.  
  
  
  
  
Lucy and Kane had left the blocked cavern behind, leading the Marines in the direction indicated by Hajar's work and waiting to see if they would encounter Reich forces.  
  
They were not disappointed.  
  
Here the forest was starting to give way to rockier surroundings. eons of erosion and similar forces had had pulled away the soil. The terrain was marked by higher and more pronounced hills and rises. Along one of those rises the various sensors the group was using were showing life readings.  
  
Approaching from the northeast, the group followed the sloping hills up. Lucy already felt the presence of their foes through her life force. While much of the area was covered in darkness that was no guarantee they could get by undetected, not with the many forms of sensors and image enhancement that even field troops could employ. "Status on your cloaks?", Lucy asked.  
  
"Getting pretty low on power," Kane noted. "If you were thinking of us just cloaking entirely and slipping through, we'd only have a minute or two before the power's out."  
  
"So no sneaking in. Figures." Lucy drew in a breath and focused her thoughts to see if she could consider a solution. "Ijala, can you get a shot from around here?"  
  
"There are no good perches, Lieutenant," replied the sniper in his usual chirping voice.  
  
"Our best bet is come in on a main approach and open up as we get in range," Kane answered. "They're looking for ways to get at our people, they may not be expecting us."  
  
Lucy considered that. She wasn't a big fan of the direct approach, not in this situation, but Kane was the ground commander, she was the tech help plus metaphysical backup. She nodded. "Go ahead then."  
  
Kane nodded at her and looked back to his people. He began issuing commands, splitting them up into fire teams and giving them directions to approach from. She concentrated on other things. The growing sense of unease she felt, like something was off. Something wrong.  
  
She realized what it was just in time to save Kane's life.  
  
He had moved out of the cover of one of the last trees, ready to creep further up the slope. Lucy dived and tackled him to the ground. Not a moment later green energy lanced by the spot he'd been moving through.  
  
The others opened up with fire. Not at an enemy on the ground, but above, where the rough saucer shape of a Nazi assault craft was now hovering overhead. Red energy flared around it; the craft's shield was stopping the Marine fire. A barrage of rockets flared through the night sky and met the shield. Again and again it flared red, and it did not fall.  
  
"Looks like our friend came back", Lucy muttered. She helped Kane get back up and get back into some semblance of cover. Overhead the whine of an anti-gravity field told them the attack craft was still in position. "These things have energy shields?"  
  
"Not according to the battle reports I've read." Kane frowned. "They must be getting tired of our boys shooting them down." He looked further away, toward the bottom of the slope where the team was finding cover. "Ijala, can you take a shot?", he asked.  
  
There was no answer.  
  
"They're jamming communications," Lucy said. "There must be a lot of power if they're blanketing even short-range comms."  
  
"Shields, jammers, I'd hate to see what else this thing can do." Another emerald beam lanced the ground nearby. A second fired off further away, driving two of Kane's people back into cover.  
  
"We have to find a way around that thing."  
  
"There's no way around that thing, Lieutenant," Kane pointed out. He tried to peek around their cover and barely got his head back in time for an emerald beam to sizzle through the air where he had been.  
  
"If we don't catch up, they'll kill Nick." Lucy started looking around their surroundings. The assault craft was in just the right spot, hovering nearby and forcing them to stay in cover without giving them much chance to fire at it. Even in the night it couldn't be missed, giving it a literal otherworldly look with the white glow from the craft's undercarriage and networked anti-gravity drives.  
  
"If you get far enough way, you should be able to call the _Bastilone_ in", Kane proposed. "A runabout should make short work of one of those things."  
  
"'It'd take time to get into position. And if they fly a little too fast, the enemy fleet sees them." Lucy shook her head. "And that's if they didn't see them when they decloaked to fire."  
  
"Well, I'm open to suggestions." Kane looked back to his tactical display on his HUD. There were more signatures moving in. Enemy troops, he suspected, to flush them out for the saucer to kill. "Because we've got more Ratzis coming in to flush us out."  
  
Lucy bit into her lip for a moment as she thought about the situation. She looked back to the assault craft hovering above them. To generate a shield that powerful required a lot of energy. Could such a craft be capable of that on all sides?  
  
_Not likely. Not if they wanted to make it affordable_ , she decided. And if it was too expensive, it wouldn't be as numerous and therefore not as useful, since actual fighter craft could make short work of it.  
  
"Give me what cover you can," Lucy said to Kane. "I'm going to try something." She leaned over away from him and put herself into a starting position to begin running.  
  
As expected, Kane looked at Lucy as if she was nuts, although it wasn't a disapproving look. He tapped something on his arm and a rocket launcher swiveled up on his armor suit.  
  
Once she was ready, Lucy began to run. She focused on her power, on the energy she felt within her and around everything else, and willed her legs to carry her forward faster and faster. Her running soon hit speeds normal Humans would never manage.  
  
Behind her disruptor fire stitched up the ground. Rockets glared into the night sky again as Kane, and now his Marines, laid down the cover fire she requested. Rockets lit up the air and exploded against the craft's shield.  
  
Lucy ran-on, rushing toward the slope and then up it. She ran up it, surprised with herself at how well she was keeping this up.  
  
But the truly tricky part came next. Lucy backed away from the edge of the rockface and pulled her _lakesh_ from the place on her belt. _Here goes nothing_.  
  
Backing up an appreciable distance, Lucy took off running again and straight for the edge. At the last moment she jumped off with her feet, still focusing her power into her body's muscles to go faster and now jump farther. Her arms wheeled to either side in the open air as the distant ground, and the enemy saucer, rushed up toward her.  
  
If Lucy missed, the landing would be painful and the enemy craft would get a clear shot at her. If she was wrong about the shields, she'd slam into a concentrated energy field and end up dead, burnt, or getting battered by the reactive force of impacting the field with the kinetic energy of her fall.  
  
The craft loomed closer, and closer, and closer…  
  
Lucy managed a landing just inside what looked to be the protective rail for the operation space. Coming out of the night sky above, compared to the clashing colors of energy fire from below, the enemy gunners hadn't been in place to notice her descent until she'd landed. She sensed their surprise, and more than that, the immediate intention to go for their weapons. Her finger hit the switch on her _lakesh_ hilt. A sharp metallic sound sounded out and the memory metal surged from its reservoir in the hilt, forming a deadly blade that faintly glowed with blue light.  
  
Lucy slashed the nearest Nazi trooper with her weapon. The blade found the side of his neck and cut through flesh and bone, nearly decapitating him. The enemy beside him pulled out his disruptor pistol, but Lucy caught him with a kick to the hand that knocked it free before driving the blade into his heart.  
  
The third and fourth men recoiled, the fourth nevertheless having gotten his sidearm out. The emerald beam lashed out for Lucy the moment she got her blade back into position. It deflected from the blade, protected by that EM field, and the beam struck the third man in the chest. The man disappeared in a wave of green energy, utterly vaporized.  
  
Lucy freed one hand and thrust it toward the last remaining soldier before he could fire again. He flew off of the saucer, crying out in surprise and fear as he fell to the rocky ground below.  
  
Lucy looked around her. The controls showed a fairly decent display of both Kane's Marines and the Nazi troops moving to encircle them. She reached for what looked like the firing controls. Reading German was definitely not her strong suit and it took her an extra moment to realize how the firing and piloting controls worked.  
  
Once she did, however, the battle changed immediately. It took only a couple moments to set up the craft's auto-hover control, allowing her to focus on the firing console. Under Lucy's control the powerful emerald beams again flared out. But this time it was the Nazi troopers forced to flee for cover as their own weapon was turned against them.  
  
After firing a few times Lucy quickly checked another console. Even with the German language controls, she could guess it was their tactical jamming gear given the clear frequency markings on the controls. She quickly shut down jamming on their command frequency. "Lucero here, I've got control."  
  
" _Good job Lieutenant_ ," Kane said. " _I'm relaying firing data to you now. Keep the targets in that area suppressed while we handle the rest._ "  
  
"I'm on it," Lucy answered.  
  
From her vantage point on the saucer-like assault craft Lucy watched the battle unfold. Kane maneuvered the dozen Marines with him with the skill she expected from him, isolating and defeating the enemy bit by bit while she provided cover fire to keep them isolated.  
  
As soon as the fight was over Lucy went over to the piloting controls again and flew the craft to the ground on the upper slope. It landed in a cloud of dust. Kane walked up to her. "You did it again," he said.  
  
"You helped," Lucy answered. "As soon as their commanders realize what happened that saucer's a flying target."  
  
"I hear you on that," said Kane. "Let's get to Locarno and Hajar. I want to set up a secure position just in case we get any more visitors before extraction."  
  
Lucy promptly brought up her multi-device and called up the relevant data. "This way."  
  
  
  
It was Gamaya who came to check on Meridina after dawn. The short-haired, spry young scientist-in-the-making set off her sister's doorbell repeatedly until, with great care, she opened the door. Her sister's main living area was as sparse as ever. Meridina was sitting on the bed, staring out a window. "Meri? Meri, it's time for morning meal." When Gamaya didn't get a reaction she walked up beside Meridina.  
  
She was surprised to see the tears of frustration on Meridina's cheeks. "Meri?"  
  
"I doubt," Meridina whispered.  
  
Gamaya blinked. "What do you doubt?"  
  
"Everything," was the low answer. "What if I have been wrong? What if…" She looked to Gamaya directly. "What if everything I have worked for was the wrong thing?"  
  
It wasn't hard to see how twisted up Meridina's feelings had become. Gamaya did not have her parents' gifts, but she knew her sister and that was what mattered. "Well, sometimes we make mistakes," Gamaya said. "Scientists do it all of the time. It's how they make new discoveries. I mean… that's how it sometimes happens."  
  
Meridina considered that. "Then I would be obligated to change what I have done."  
  
"Sometimes. But sometimes it's just a mistake in methodology, not idea," Gamaya answered. "And sometimes it's just how you're looking at the answer. That's how it is for science, anyway. For you… this doubt's a bad thing, right?"  
  
"Doubt is deadly to us, yes," Meridina answered.  
  
"Why are you doubting?"  
  
Meridina pondered the answer. "There are… multiple reasons."  
  
"Because of what happened to you?" Gamaya put a sympathetic hand on her sister's arm. "Because of that alien taking over your body?"  
  
"I believe that is part of it. But to come home and find the Dissenters vandalizing statues and causing violence. And over something I support. It makes me believe I may have helped ruin three thousand years of peace on our planet."  
  
"That's because they've let themselves be scared into fearing the Alliance." Gamaya frowned. "They can't find balance with the Alliance, so they're lashing out."  
  
"Perhaps." Meridina shook her head. "But perhaps I have lost my balance too. I want the Alliance to be something great. So much that I may be losing sight of what is going on. Our people are being disrupted by what has happened. How can I continue on the path I've chosen, knowing it may be tearing our people apart?"  
  
Gamaya frowned. "I know Father sees the Dissenters' violence as another sign why we shouldn't be in the Alliance. But I think he's wrong. The Alliance is worth this. It's a chance for our people to become part of something great. We can't just step away from that." Gamaya smiled at her sister, a soft smile meant to build confidence. "I don't think you're wrong for wanting our people to remain in the Alliance, Meridina, and I'm proud that you're trying to keep us together in your own way. Whatever happened to you, whatever this darkness is... please don't let it make you doubt that. You're helping to bring us to a new and better future."  
  
The two sisters looked at each other for a quiet moment. They had grown up together, they knew each other quite well, and they didn't need to speak to communicate on the subtle things. Meridina could see Gamaya's honesty, her passion for the future she saw before her, just as Gamaya saw Meridina's desire to overcome the doubt and darkness clawing within her.  
  
Seeing Gami like this made Meridina feel ashamed of that doubt. She knew she was letting the darkness left by Amaunet cloud her judgement with fear.  
  
_I have so much to fear_ , she thought quietly. But fear was the enemy. It created doubt. It caused anger. It fueled the rage of the Dissenters. Fear of the future could cloud all vision, all wisdom, that could make the future better.  
  
She had to overcome this. Meridina simply couldn't live with this doubt gnawing at her.  
  
As her own expression settled into a look of quiet determination, Gamaya's mouth spread into a smile. She put her hands together. "Now… we should go get our meal. Mother will be upset if you let your food get cold."  
  
Meridina smiled thinly at that. She was still considering her sister's words in her mind, in her heart and being, as she stood up. With a nod she said, "Let us not disappoint Mother, then. I will follow you."  
  
They departed from the room.  
  
  
  
  
It took the better part of two hours for the group to get to the cave-in area. They found Hajar half-asleep from exhaustion and Locarno mostly unconscious. "Corpsman," barked Kane.  
  
One of his team moved forward. The tan-skinned young man, Corpsman Sandoval, ran a medical scanner over Locarno. "Both legs have multiple fractures," he reported to Kane and Lucy. "I'm also reading internal damage, although no active internal bleeding. We'll have to be careful moving him around."  
  
"Digging him out will be hard," Lucy noted, looking over the fallen rocks that were pinning him. "If we shift the weight and structure of this rockslide, it could cause another." She looked to Kane. "I'll do my best to hold the rock up while you dig him out."  
  
"That's all I can ask, Lieutenant. Corpsman, see to Ensign Hajar while we get this done."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
What followed was one of the most grueling uses of her power Lucy had yet to endure. The rock was indeed loose, and more wanted to pour in even as the Marines, with their armor-enhanced strength, pulled the rest of the rock out. Every iota of will she had went into keeping the loose rock above Locarno from filling in the space that was, centimeter-by-centimeter, freeing him. She felt dizzy and weak as the ordeal went on.  
  
"Almost… almost… I've got him!" Kane pulled Locarno free. The helmsman cried out from the shock of pain that came from the jostling of his broken legs. "Get clear!"  
  
They did so, and not a moment too soon for Lucy. She let go with a groan of relief. Rumbling filled the cavern as loose rock poured into the gap created by the Marines and the removal of Locarno. Dust kicked up in clouds around the impact sight that lingered even after the rumbling ceased.  
  
Lucy toppled to her hands and knees. Her head ached and her vision was growing blurry. "Lieutenant?", Kane asked, concern carefully laced into his tone.  
  
"Just a moment," she muttered. "That took a lot out of me. I've never had to hold that much mass for so long."  
  
"Right. Take a rest and hydrate." Kane looked next to Corpsman Sandoval. "Corpsman?"  
  
"I'll have splints ready shortly, sir," the Spaniard replied. He reached into his medkit and pulled out a hypospray, which he applied to Locarno. "This will help you with the pain."  
  
"Thanks," was the mumbled reply.  
  
Hajar knelt down beside Lucy. "Are you alright?", she asked.  
  
"I will be as soon as the world stops spinning," came the hoarse answer.  
  
Hajar nodded. And after a moment of clear consideration she said, "Thank you, Lieutenant. Thank you for helping to get Nick out."  
  
"Part of the job," Lucy mumbled.  
  
"I know." Hajar shook her head. "But I wanted to thank you anyway."  
  
Lucy replied with a quiet nod. Which made the room spin just a little more, so she stopped.  
  
  
  
  
Dawn had just passed, sending the early rays of the day into the cavern opening when the team returned. Two Marines were carrying Locarno on a litter. Another was staying close to Lucy as she wobbled her way with them.  
  
Kane signaled with his hands for everyone to stay put for the moment, just as they entered the daylight and could see outside. With everyone ready to take cover he and another Marine moved ahead to the furthest extent of the opening.  
  
They took cover just in time, as emerald beams flashed through the air around them.  
  
" _Surrender!_ ", a voice called out.  
  
"That sounds like a really stupid thing to do," Lucy mumbled from her place behind cover.  
  
"Agreed." Kane looked at his scanning system. "Looks like they pulled out the stops. At least a company out there, and they've got three of those attack craft with them. And a squad of _Panzergrenadiers_."  
  
"So our other choice is hold out until someone comes?", asked Hajar. "I mean, don't you have a ship?"  
  
"The _Bastilone_ would have to decloak to beam us up and they'd spot that immediately."  
  
"And you don't look like you're up for any more heroics," Kane said to Lucy.  
  
She returned a weak smile. "I'm not that strong, not yet."  
  
Kane nodded. "If we don't surrender, they'll probably toss grenades in. We can retreat back into the cave and hope someone comes along to pick us up, but…"  
  
Before Kane could finish, everyone became aware of a growing roar in the air. The enemy troops did so as well. And all could see the shape burning in, outlined against the the dawn light.  
  
The craft was much larger than any shuttle or runabout, yet smaller than an attack ship. Kane thought it looked like a planetary assault landing craft by size, and said so.  
  
It flew too high for the Nazi troops to fire at, moving in at just enough of an angle for them to see a glimpse of the large engine assembly in the back, burning orange flame into the atmosphere. Similar jets appeared at the bottom, hovering engines being brought to bear to stabilize the ship in mid-air. It turned to present its side fully.  
  
Four figures jumped from the open bay doors along the side. They were clearly too large to be human-sized fighters, given the size of the ship in relation to their clear profiles. The tremendous clouds of dust kicked up by their thunderous landings made that more evident.  
  
The lead machine was not even human-shaped, with legs slanted forward with chicken-like reverse joints for knees. It was painted in general green camo style with the exception of a rattlesnake insignia on the feet of the machine. An arm ending with a muzzle came up and fired an azure beam that streaked through the air, a solid beam of energy around which lightning crackled like a helix.  
  
The beam speared one of the assault craft. Its shields flickered red for the barest moment, just long enough to be visible, before they gave out. The saucer-shaped hovering craft exploded violently. Debris showered down upon the troops it had been supporting.  
  
A second figure in the same color scheme, slightly smaller and with humanoid legs, swung up its high-shouldered arms, each ending with two muzzles aligned vertically. Golden flame erupted repeatedly from these weapons. Tracer fire showed the onslaught of shells that connected with another of the assault saucers. Again the red light of its shields briefly played over its surface, resisting the fire of the automatic cannons briefly before the shells ripped the saucer to shreds.  
  
The third and last of the saucers died a moment later. There was no visual indication of what had struck it, simply a thunderous impact of an unseen kinetic shell that slammed through its shields like they weren't even there. The Nazi assault craft broke apart like an egg smashed by a hammer.  
  
Crackling came over their tactical comm link. "Corporal?" Kane looked to Corporal Haleigh Stone, his command squad radiowoman.  
  
"They're patching into our tactical comm channels, sir," replied Stone. She was the tallest and arguably strongest in the unit, courtesy of the genetic engineering done to make her home planet of Littlefield survivable with its high-G environment.  
  
A moment later a male voice began to speak with a vaguely American accent. " _This is Leftenant Garrett Petersen, 3rd Davion Guards, to_ Aurora _rescue mission. Do you copy?_ "  
  
"Commander Kane, _Aurora_ Commander of Troops, I read you, Leftenant."  
  
There was an explosion outside. A laser from one of the new arrivals had annihilated one of the _Panzergrenadiers_ with a shot that blew up its internal power core.  
  
" _We're under orders to enable your extraction, sir. It looks like we were just in time._ "  
  
Kane nodded and grinned at his Marines. "That you are, Leftenant. We'll hit them from behind now that you've got their attention."  
  
The offer of help made sense, and its usefulness was highlighted by one of Petersen's machines nearly losing an arm to concentrated disruptor fire from the remaining _Panzergrenadiers_. " _Much obliged, Commander, much obliged._ "  
  
"Alright Marines!" Kane lifted his particle rifle into his arms. "Let's go make an impression on our new friends from the Inner Sphere. _Ooh rah!_ "  
  
" _OOH RAH!_ ", his squad roared in agreement.  
  
Kane led them out of the cave. He quickly identified one of the enemy PGs, still focused on the Davion 'Mechs, and gave him a full blast to the back that took the foe out. Lieutenant Barker brought an arm up and fired a missile into a fireteam of Nazi troopers setting up a heavy weapon. It exploded from the impact and sent the _feldgrau_ -wearing foes around it flying.  
  
The attack by the Marines, and the shock of the attack from Petersen's platoon - or lance, as he would call it - took the fight out of the foe quickly. The expectation of overwhelming victory turned into imminent defeat was more than enough to finish shattering their morale. Some fled away, toward the forest, and a handful of survivors soon threw their weapons down and surrendered.  
  
Once the chaos was over, Kane looked up at the towering machines that had come to the rescue. "Nice to see the walking tanks are everything they were talked up to be," he heard Barker mutter.  
  
"Leftenant, is your ship still alright? There's still that enemy fleet in orbit."  
  
There was a short chuckle on the other end. " _Oh, they won't be a problem for long, Commander._ "  
  
  
  
  
The orbital space around Beta Durani 4 was filled with the tailfires of missiles and a number of energy beams of varying composition and color. A Reich _Sedan_ -class cruiser added to the pyrotechnic display by exploding from within after repeated hits found its fuel bunkerage.  
  
The _Starship Aurora_ turned away from its dead foe and directed its attention towards the largest enemy. The Nazi battlecruiser, of a newer class than the _Lutzow_ s they'd seen before, retorted to their fire with its super-disruptor emitters facing them.  
  
"Shields down to sixty percent." Jarod looked over his screens. "It looks like this new design has upgraded cannons, among other things."  
  
Robert nodded. "Ensign Arterria, bring us in on an attack run."  
  
"The _Carmichael_ is going after them too," Julia said from her chair.  
  
"Locking on…" Angel looked over her board. "Firing!"  
  
The _Aurora_ 's forward cannons blazed to life again, pouring thick bolts of sapphire energy over the enemy battlecruiser. Its shields flickered red under the onslaught, doing so as well when the amber of the _Aurora_ 's phaser cannons and arrays began to strike at it.  
  
From another angle, the _Carmichael_ raced in. The _Scorpio_ -class attack cruiser was another of the new Alliance-wide designs built to fight in the war. It eschewed some of the mission flexibility of the _Aurora_ to pack tremendous firepower into its 400 meter-long, 120 meter-wide frame. The slight wedge shape was from FedStar design practices for ships of its type, allowing it to bring its batteries of cannons to maximum on single, larger targets. Sapphire bursts came from its batteries of pulse plasma cannons like on the _Aurora_.  
  
Both ships added solar torpedoes to their attacks. The enemy ship's shields buckled and strained under the onslaught. But they had not yet broken.  
  
"The Nazi light warships are heading toward the Commonwealth carrier ships." Caterina's voice had the usual nervous squeakiness she got when they were in a fight. "They're still deploying."  
  
Julia gave him a concerned look. "They only have jury-rigged shields on those DropShips, if they get hit by torpedoes…"  
  
"Get Laurent's people to…"  
  
"There's a ship decloaking," Cat said, cutting in. "It's the _Koenig._ "  
  
"Re-direct Laurent to the battlecruiser," Robert ordered. He grinned. "Zack's got them covered."  
  
  
  
  
The _Koenig_ shimmered into view "above" the group of dagger-shaped enemy ships rushing toward the deploying Commonwealth DropShips. "Target lock," April said from tactical.  
  
Zack kept a confident pose in his chair. "Fire at will, April. Keep them off our allies."  
  
He watched on the viewscreen as the _Koenig_ 's forward cannons opened up. Pulses of deadly amber energy slammed into one of the Nazi destroyers along the rear, where its internal warp drive assembly was located. A ferocious white fireball nearly engulfed the enemy ship from the direct hit, sending it spiraling off.  
  
The next shots from April were slightly off. "They're evading," April said.  
  
"Ap…"  
  
"On it," Apley replied from his place at the helm.  
  
The _Koenig_ twisted along one path and soon April's fire was again hammering the enemy torpedo destroyer. A final solar torpedo blew the vessel in half, leaving just one.  
  
The _Koenig_ turned to pursue that ship, and in the process opened the path for the Commonwealth ships to continue their descent into orbit.  
  
  
  
On the _Aurora_ bridge, Robert and the others watched the enemy battlecruiser suffer several more hits. Their shields were still holding, as were _Carmichael_ 's, and now the Mongoose fighters on the _Aurora_ were adding to the ship's difficulties with repeated torpedo and missile strafing runs. Aerospace fighters launching from the Commonwealth carrier DropShips added to the damage, slinging upgraded warheads retrofitted for their fighters' missile launchers into the enemy's shields and, increasingly, their hull.  
  
"I'm picking up a power surge," Caterina said. "It looks like they're…"  
  
In a flash of light the burning enemy battlecruiser elongated briefly and disappeared.  
  
"...going to warp," she finished.  
  
Julia nodded while observing the tactical display. One by one the remaining icons for enemy ships were disappearing. "They're retreating."  
  
Robert smiled at that and leaned forward in his seat. "Let them. We need to attend to the enemy planetside now. Jarod, any word from the _Foxfire_?"  
  
"They're sending us regular tactical updates," Jarod answered. "The second wave of ships are burning into atmosphere now."  
  
"Did they say anything about our rescue team?", Julia asked.  
  
"Nothing yet." Jarod noticed a light on his panel begin blinking. "We're getting a hail." Clear relief entered his voice when he added, "It's from the _Bastilone_. It's Commander Kane."  
  
Robert sighed with relief. "Put them on."  
  
The viewscreen shifted to show Lucy and Kane in the cockpit of the assault lander runabout. " _We found them,_ Aurora," Kane announced. "Locarno's busted up a bit, broken legs from a cave-in. But he'll live."  
  
"We'll have sickbay standing by for your casualties, Commander," Robert said. "Thanks for getting to our people."  
  
" _We have you to thank for getting the reinforcements here_ ," Lucy answered. " _They saved our bacon_." Her hands moved over the controls. " _We're lifting off now to return to the ship._ "  
  
"Good. Don't take your time either, we still have to escort the Marik contingent to Eta Durani 2 to stop the enemy offensive there."  
  
Lucy nodded. " _We'll be with you in a couple of minutes._ "  
  
Julia, meanwhile, was already at work. "All fighters are coming back in, no losses," she announced happily. "And our other shuttle crews are preparing to beam back aboard. Unfortunately it looks like our other shuttles got shot up on the ground, none of them are flight-capable."  
  
"Relay their coordinates to the shuttle bay transporters, then."  
  
"Doing so now." Julia noticed another bit of data coming up. "And the _Koenig_ is preparing to dock."  
  
Robert nodded. "Signal the convoy to get back into formation. We'll warp out as soon as the _Brasidas_ and her battle group get here. Ensign Arterria, set a course for Eta Durani, Warp 6."  
  
"Laying in course and speed," the young woman answered. "ETA is ten hours."  
  
"So much for this surprise Nazi offensive, huh?", Julia asked.  
  
"They probably thought they could get away with it given the Klingon withdrawal." Robert shared a knowing grin with Julia. "The arrival of our new allies should make them have second thoughts about trying it again." He sighed and looked back to the viewscreen, showing the planet spinning below them as several more Commonwealth DropShips lowered into the atmosphere. "I'm just glad we didn't lose anyone."  
  
"We got lucky, I guess." Julia's look turned sad. "We've lost enough of our people in this war."  
  
"Maybe turning them back here will change the tempo of the war." Robert nodded to the screen and the ships still flaring against the atmosphere of Beta Durani 4. "And it'll bring the war to an end soon."  
  
"All we can do is hope."  
  
Robert found he had nothing to add to that statement.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Locarno is forced to consider his past mistakes after being shot down on a Nazi-controlled planet.

After writing and filing her debriefing report, Hajar went to the medbay and was directed to the bed where Locarno was kept. A skeletal regenerator assembly was over his legs. Leo stood over him. "I don't want to see you on your feet for the next few days," he was saying. "It'll take time for the fractures to finish healing."  
  
"Sure," Locarno said. "I think I could use a few days off doing… nothing, I guess? Just complete and absolute boredom."  
  
Leo gave him a sardonic look. "Don't make me sic Julia on you."  
  
Locarno chuckled in reply. "Don't worry, you won't have to."  
  
Leo let out a short laugh and walked off.  
  
Locarno turned his head to face Hajar. "Hey," he said.  
  
"Hey," was her response.  
  
"So, we made it out alive, huh."  
  
She nodded.  
  
There was more uncomfortable silence between the two. They had already said everything there was to say, after all. Their feelings were known.  
  
"Thank you," Hajar finally said, to break the silence if anything. "For keeping me from getting hit by those rocks."  
  
"You're welcome." Locarno swallowed. "I can make arrangements for you."  
  
"I know. But I'm not worried." Hajar shook her head. "For now, I'm just going to wait and see what comes up."  
  
"Yeah." And like that, there was nothing more to be said. Hajar left.  
  
  
  
  
The hover-vehicle ride to the Temple was an hour long, and Meridina used that time to continue meditating and considering herself. To consider everything.  
  
The surroundings did not escape her notice, of course. The gentle climb up toward the mountains overlooking the capital, with the arcologies and non-residential towers marking the heart of the Gersallian civilization slowly giving way to lush forest and gentle creeks flowing away from the Lutanyan River and its gorgeous, azure sheen. She could sense the animal life in that area, intermixed with those enjoying the forests or training within its boundaries.  
  
The forest gave way to the blocks of dormitories in which the members of the Order, and their providers, lived and ate together. These old structures had been built and rebuilt with the latest technology while keeping their circular architectures and gentle shapes. The remnants of the road that once connected the Great Temple to the capital could still be seen exiting the forest.  
  
The driver set the craft down in the vehicle park for the Temple. Meridina intentionally left Alliance credits in her seat, knowing that the driver would not accept pay directly, and started walking toward the main building.  
  
Around her, heads turned among the sensitive. They could feel her anguish and pain, still so prominent in her heart. And... yes, they could sense that little piece of darkness Amaunet had left in her. She kept her head bowed and tried to force the shame out as she entered the main building.  
  
The red-robed defenders of the Temple gave her closer, scrutinizing looks as she walked into the great Council Chambers. She took it as a sign of trust that they did not stop her as they might have stopped another who felt like she did.  
  
The Chambers were the largest structure on the Temple Grounds. They had been built for the public deliberations of the Order Council and for the ceremonies of the Order, such as the recognition of new _Mastrash_ es or new members of the Council.  
  
A chill went through Meridina's spine as she considered those public deliberations and ceremonies. They included trials for corruption or major violation of the Code. The sort of corruption she had now experienced… and the violation she was arguably performing by training Robert and Lucy as extensively as she was.  
  
She walked beyond the vacant table, the ranks of vacant seating, and toward the relics. A great portrait depicted Swenya, dark-hair flowing out with a _lakesh_ shining with symbolic light extended and held up. Below the portrait were three glass cases. One held Swenya's sandals, one her battle-torn blue robe, and the third, her ancient _lakesh_ , with the rounded hilt different than any _lakesh_ known to their histories.  
  
The relics made Meridina consider Swenya, the Great Foundress. The woman who arisen from the obscurity of the provinces with her mentor and teacher, Reshan, and brought stability and peace to Gersal. She had defeated the Trumav Brotherhood, restored peace with Gersal's outlying colonies, and joined the other _swevyra_ -using organizations into the Order that Meridina stood in today.  
  
It seemed odd that so little was known about her, even if she had started out in the poorest provinces of the Jaldiran Continent. Her parentage was unknown. The only record of her birth was a printed record in the village of Trubin, stating the day and time of birth but not the mother's name - it had been established solely by the eyewitness testimony of a town elder's son, who didn't recall the parents. Even less was known of Reshan - claims he was from the colonies, disputes over the role he played in Swenya's life. The Brotherhood of Kohbal had caused so much devastation after Swenya's death that even these few surviving things were precious and rare.  
  
For a moment Meridina set her eyes on the _lakesh_. The rounded hilt was so different from the one belted to her waist. She wondered why the roundish hilt had been preferred.  
  
There was another presence in the room. Meridina turned and faced _Mastrash_ Ledosh, her mentor and teacher, now standing by the Council table. He looked at her with caring brown eyes full of sadness. "I have worried," he admitted. "The reports of the darkness now within you, of what was done to you."  
  
"Amaunet seized my being," Meridina said. "I could not stop her from taking control."  
  
"A dreadful thing." Ledosh shook his head. "Have you spent time with the healers?"  
  
"I… have considered it, yes," Meridina admitted. "But I fear they will prejudge me. Or that it will further complicate their perceptions of the Alliance."  
  
"I see.” Ledosh finished walking up to her. "But this is serious, my student. This Goa'uld parasite has left you tainted by darkness.And that will excite the members of the Order."  
  
"Can the healers purge me of this darkness?"  
  
"They may be able to. It will not be easy on you." Ledosh shook his head. "And it may require you to renounce your commission and leave the _Aurora_."  
  
She gave him a sharp look. Refusal was evident in her features. Leave the _Aurora_...?!  
  
Indeed, her reaction surprised her, as it seemed that her doubt simply melted against the intensity of the thought. It was instinctive, immediate, flowing from within the deepest core of her person. No. She could not leave the _Aurora_. Her work there was too important.  
  
Ledosh felt it too, but he also felt the obligation to give his student good counsel. "Meridina, please. It may be for the best." Concern showed on the older man's face. "Your father has already sensed the darkness lingering within you. It will be expected of you to be treated for it. You must cleanse yourself before you resume any duties."  
  
Meridina shook her head. "I cannot. Not with the responsibility on my shoulders. I still have work to do."  
  
"Even with the doubt?", Ledosh asked. "I can sense it in you, my student. You now fear your own power and will. You fear what you might become if your control slips. You fear your own feelings."  
  
Her reply was a nod. "Yes," Meridina admitted. "I do. I fear those things. And I fear we may be causing pain for our people. But I also have faith that they will confront their fears and overcome them. As for myself... there will always be fear to overcome for those of us following Swenya's path. You taught me this, _Mastrash_ , and you are a great teacher. I will not disappoint your teachings."  
  
Ledosh remained silent for the moment. He had been fairly certain she would react that way. And, searching his own feelings, he felt his own fear. His fear for her well-being and for her future. "If things go wrong, Meridina, I cannot protect you."  
  
"I do not wish it."  
  
"Goras will pursue you with vigor. While the darkness lingers within you, it is a vulnerability he will aim for to destroy all we have worked for."  
  
"I will be careful," Meridina insisted. "But I believe you and the others are right. They are the Bearers of the Dawn. And I must help them until their destiny is fulfilled."  
  
Ledosh kept a level look on his former student. "I see. You are attempting to remain strong despite your doubt. Be careful, please."  
  
Meridina nodded slightly. "I will, _Mastrash._ _Mi rake sa swevyra iso_."  
  
" _Mi rake sa swevyra iso_."  
  
  
  
  
Meridina walked back out to the hovercar that would take her back home.  
  
She may have sensed them, the ones watching her, but if she did she didn't show it. From a windowed chamber three floors up in the Great Temple, Karesl watched his daughter departing alongside Goras.  
  
Goras momentarily scratched at his full gray beard. He had shaved his head down recently, giving him more hair on his chin than on his head. Dark brown eyes focused on Meridina as she stepped into the craft. "I sense it in her. How unlike her," he noted. "Doubt. Darkness."  
  
"My daughter has suffered much."  
  
"Register that upon Ledosh's account." Goras stepped away from the window. "A great many things will be laid upon his head in coming days."  
  
Karesl looked to his ally. "You believe the Dissenters will act more openly?"  
  
Goras folded his hands before him, causing his purple robes to shift slightly. "Ones such as they always do. The Order cannot keep our people balanced if it is also unbalanced."  
  
"There are still a few key votes. _Mastrash_ Satrin, for instance, may yet be convinced of our approach."  
  
Goras shook his head. "Satrin is too much of a xenophile. We must turn Rekisin, Quliran, and Lariskia first. Then they might bring her around." Goras gave Karesl a careful look. "Of course, if Ledosh is defeated, Meridina may suffer the greatest. She is the one of his faction who openly acted on his behalf."  
  
"My daughter is devoted to the Code, wholly," Karesl said. "If the Council orders her to return home, she will do so. She would never invite ejection."  
  
"Let us hope, for her sake, that you are correct." Goras took a seat. "If she fails to have the healers tend to her soul, she may yet fall to the darkness. And nothing will drive her further than to see her work undone by Ledosh's fall."  
  
Karesl kept his expression level at that remark. A flutter of worry went through him. Ledosh had turned his daughter into a devotee of the greatest order. Might she resist even then?  
  
Might he be forced to throw his daughter from the Order that had been her entire world?  
  
"Let us hope, indeed," Karesl forced himself to say. "I will go see to the creche trials now. You know where to reach me."  
  
"I do. _Mi rake sa sweyvra iso_ , Karesl."  
  
" _Mi rake sa swevyra iso_ , Goras."  
  
Karesl left the room. Goras watched him go and felt his essence grow further away.  
  
A tone came over his personal computation system. He reached over and hit a key with the "Comm" marker on it in High Gersallian. A young woman appeared, her skin reflecting the sunlight off her shaved head. She had the robes of an apprentice. One of his. "Itaralai, have you made the contacts?"  
  
" _I have_ ," she pledged. " _The Dissenters thank you for your service to their cause,_ Mastrash _. Although, is this truly…_ "  
  
Goras waved a hand, anticipating the protest. "It is the best way. We must make the Alliance desire Gersallian departure as much as we wish it ourselves."  
  
" _If you feel it is necessary, then. We have made the arrangements with a source in the Senate. Entry will be possible when the time is right._ "  
  
"Excellent. Keep me informed. _Mi rake sa swevyra iso_."  
  
"Mi rake sa swevyra iso", the apprentice intoned. She disappeared from his screen.  
  
Goras considered the situation quietly. No matter what happened, no matter what came, this had to be done. This had to happen. His people had to be saved before inertia bound them forever into Alliance servitude.  
  
  
  
  
 **Tag**  
  
  
 _Ship's Log: 24 April 2642; ASV Aurora. Captain Robert Dale recording. We have completed our part in the counter-attack against the surprise Reich offensive in the Durani Cluster. With the assistance of Inner Sphere ground forces the planets that were invaded are now being reclaimed, and enemy troops are being driven into surrendering. The Reich fleet has already withdrawn from combat._  
  
Robert, Julia, and Zack were seated alone in the bridge-side staff conference room looking over the final reports. Below them Eta Durani 2 span quietly, as if blissfully unaware of the fighting still going on along its surface. A warship of the Sol Republic was visible in its closer orbit, occasionally firing particle cannon bursts from its light armament as orbital fire support.  
  
"No casualties for our fighter wings or on our ships," Zack said, grinning. "It's about time we had a complete sweep."  
  
"We caught them by surprise, so don't get used to this." Julia looked over her reader again. "A small note from Beta Durani 4. Apparently there's a new casualty." She smiled thinly. "Friendly fire, of a sorts."  
  
"Given the smile, it must not be serious," Robert noted.  
  
"Well, the report says that some of the 'Mech pilots and soldiers from the Commonwealth had a small celebration with the Turians." Julia kept reading. "Apparently they got into a heated discussion about which of their units had the best battle histories."  
  
"Bar room brawl?", Zack asked.  
  
"More like bar room boozing. And a drunken FedCom soldier mistakingly picked up a Turian beverage and drank it."  
  
"Ah." Robert nodded. "Hopefully they got that out of his system."  
  
"Well, he's not listed as dead, so that's a good ending to the story." Julia smirked. "And this, gentlemen, is why I don't drink alcohol."  
  
"What about…"  
  
" _Usually_ ," she added, glaring playfully at Zack.  
  
Zack returned the glare with a playful smirk.  
  
"I think that's it," Robert said. "Anything else?"  
  
"Actually, yes." Julia looked to Zack again, who nodded. "We have a solution for that little problem you spoke of."  
  
"Oh?" Robert showed interest.  
  
Julia tapped her multidevice in reply. "Jarod, send her in."  
  
After several seconds the door opened from the bridge. Ensign Hajar entered and straightened her spine. "Reporting as ordered, sir."  
  
Julia looked back to her report. "Ensign Hajar is one of our new piloting officer trainees."  
  
"So I've heard," Robert said evenly. He leaned forward. "I read the reports on your mission to Beta Durani 4, Ensign. You did well despite the circumstances. I'm glad to have you."  
  
Hajar smiled thinly and nodded. "Thank you, sir, for the complement. However, due to… personal reasons, I am going to request a transfer."  
  
"So I'm told." Robert gestured to Julia. "Commander?"  
  
Julia looked to Hajar before going over her datapad. "Ensign, you're not only showing high marks in piloting, but you're proven to have engineering aptitude too."  
  
"I do have some, sir."  
  
"As it so happens, there's a posting available for you that would make those 'personal reasons' no longer valid."  
  
Robert could see where this was going when Zack stood up. "Ensign Hajar," he said, "I just lost one of my piloting officers to a transfer. I can use someone with your skills. And mixed specialties always has a place on the _Koenig_. I've asked Commander Andreys to arrange your transfer to my crew."  
  
Hajar was clearly thoughtful for a moment, clearly considering the offer made. After that period of consideration she nodded. "I'd be honored to join the _Koenig_ crew, Commander. Thank you for this opportunity."  
  
"Report to Lieutenant Apley tomorrow morning for your on-ship quarters assignment and duty roster placement," Zack stated. "You're dismissed."  
  
Hajar nodded briskly and walked out.  
  
"Well, there's another problem out of the way, I guess," Julia sighed.  
  
"Give it time," Robert said. "And maybe she and Nick will bury the hatchet. Anyway, I have reports to finalize and a dinner with Angel to get to, so we're all dismissed."  
  
The three friends exchanged grins and nods before departing.  
  
  
  
  
Locarno was still in bed, and still quite moody from it, when Hajar came to inform him of what happened. "The _Koenig_." Locarno grinned at that and nodded. "Yeah, you'll fit in well there. So long as Commander Carrey's notorious informality doesn't grate on you."  
  
"I think I'll live," Hajar answered. She looked over the regenerator over his legs. "Still healing?"  
  
"Just some final work on the skeletal patching, according to Doctor Gillam." Locarno sighed. "I'll be out of here soon enough."  
  
"I'm glad to hear it."  
  
Again there was silence between them. Each seemed to be considering what to say next. It was becoming torturous for Locarno. Their distance, continuing like this… the consequence of a mistake in his past he couldn't get over.  
  
Finally Locarno sighed and said, "Are we going to do the silent treatment every time?"  
  
"Probably," Hajar conceded.  
  
"Alright. I understand." And at that, Locarno looked directly into her eyes. "Just to ask… Do you think that, one day, you and I can be friends again?"  
  
Hajar's round face became, for the moment, an imperceptible mask. All Locarno could do was wait and wonder how she would finally answer him.  
  
Finally the mask broke. A small, hopeful little smile appeared on her face. "Maybe," she said. "Maybe one day I can… I can move on. And we can be friends again."  
  
With that said, Hajar turned and walked out.  
  
Locarno laid his head back on the bed after she was gone. The ghosts of Joshua Albert and Sito Jaxa still hovered over him, making him recall all of those foolish and prideful choices he had made in the Academy. The ghosts that he could never quite get rid of.  
  
But he had to smile, if only because Hajar had finally given him a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, he could move on too.


End file.
